Secrets in the Dark
by Blackened Wing
Summary: There are things in Kaname's past he would rather forget, and some he's forgotten too well. When past and present collide, old wounds are ripped open, leaving Kaname frighteningly vulnerable and Zero scrambling to pick up the pieces.
1. Nightmares

**Secrets in the Dark  
**_by Blackened Wing_

**Rating: M**

**Summary:** There are things in Kaname's past he would rather forget, and some he's forgotten too well. When past and present collide, old wounds are ripped open, leaving Kaname frighteningly vulnerable and Zero scrambling to pick up the pieces.

**Warnings:** M/M relationships. Very dark themes including rape and young person abuse. Established relationship between Kaname and Zero. Hurt/Comfort. DO NOT READ if any of these elements might disturb you.

**Pairings:** Zero x Kaname, Kaname x Zero, OC x Kaname (non-con)

**Series:** This story is part of the **Duet Series**, which follows Kaname and Zero and their relationship as based off of my stories _"Crimson Door" _and _"Blood Moon". _This story takes place a couple years after _"Take the Lead". _See my bio for a full listing of stories in the series.

**Important: **This whole series splits off and is AU from the Vampire Knight Manga as of Chapter 33, so there is a lot that is different, such as Kaname and Yuki's past, etc. My version of their past and how the confrontation with Rido went down is told in _"Crimson Door" _which ended with Kaname, Yuki and Zero together in a tentative three-way relationship_. _In the following story, _"Blood Moon" _Yuki was killed and Kaname and Zero had to come to grips with her death, their loss, their grief, and eventually their love for each other. As long as you know that, you don't absolutely have to _have_ read any of my other stories to read this one, but it will make more sense if you have been following the series, because the stories are beginning to build on one another more and more.

**A/N:** This fic will deal with some painful parts of Kaname's history that have been vaguely hinted at a number of times in my previous stories and shall now finally be explained. Obviously, the back story is completely my own and AU, like pretty much all of these stories have become.

Please note the warnings. There will be some very painful and angsty moments in this fic dealing with heavy themes like rape and abuse of a young person (not exactly a child, but still a young teen). Obviously, these are very horrible things and a large part of this fic is about dealing with the mental and emotional scars that such situations leave behind - as well as, of course, how loved ones can help those scars heal and gently, patiently replace pain with love. :) But please, if you think these themes and situations might bother you, don't read. I don't want to disturb or traumatize anyone and this story may get very dark and angsty in a fairly detailed way during some flashback scenes. I do promise that there will be lots of comfort for all the hurt though. :) _*huggles her favorite vampires tenderly*_

There's a Linkin Park song called _"Easier to Run"_ which really fits this fic perfectly. If you want to hear it, I will post lyrics and a link to it on my blog (the homepage link in my FFN bio) or you can just Google it. I also want to send an extra thank you to Sagakure for not minding that I accidentally used the same title for this story as she used for one of her previous fics. :)

**Disclaimer:** Vampire Knight and its characters do not belong to me. They belong to their inspired creator Matsuri Hino (who would probably do me physical harm if she learned what I have done to her Kaname-sama LOL). I borrow them without permission, but with great affection (honest!). This story is for entertainment purposes only; no money is being made from it.

* * *

**Chapter One: "Nightmares"**

_His heels dug into the mattress... silk sheets... slippery, they gave him no purchase. His head banged against the splintered headboard. He barely felt it, too much other pain. He was trying not to scream but it burned in his chest like a beast clawing through his ribs to get out. Pain. Humiliation. He should never have let himself get here... a shadowy voice told him this was the price for weakness. For failure. _

_Blood ran down his arms from his shackled wrists but he couldn't break the cuffs. Inhumanly strong hands griped his shoulders, pinning him down. Press a little harder and they could easily snap his collarbones. _

_"Now look... you've spilt your blood..." a darkly seductive voice, whispering in his ear. "Don't you know how precious it is? I should punish you for that..." _

_A moan... was it his? Was that hoarse, frightened voice really his? His wrists weren't the only place Kaname was bleeding by now, but that didn't matter in this twisted game. _

_Hard, brutal movement. The clawing scream escaped, raw, agonized. A devastatingly handsome face hovered near through the haze. A white-fanged smile. Eyes that burned with cruelty and delight. They were dark as midnight. No trace of red, no hint of blood lust, despite the intoxicating pure blood being shed. That wasn't what this was about. There was no loss of control here, just deliberate, excruciating sadism. _

_Someone was sobbing in the dark, but it wasn't him. No... he couldn't possibly make pitiful, broken sounds like that. It was that other boy on the bed, it wasn't him. It wasn't. He was just watching now, seeming to float above it all, merely an observer. Stupid, stupid kid. So weak, so foolish. It was his own fault he'd gotten there. He deserved it. _

_But after a while everything became confused. Pieces were out of order, they didn't fit. There was light outside the window... but it had been dark before, he knew it had. His face was jammed into the pillow and he could barely breathe, but he'd been on his back... so why could he still taste the wet, tear-soaked silk of the pillowcase in his mouth? _

_That other boy who _wasn't_ him was groaning softly, whimpering, but he couldn't see him. The sound was coming from the other side of the door. It was a strong door, with an old fashioned crossbar wedged firmly across to keep it closed. Why wouldn't the kid shut up? He didn't want to remember that the door was there. It should stay closed and forgotten. Forever._

_Yet he was pressing his hand against the door now, feeling the rough wood under his fingers. But it didn't feel like wood, it felt like silk. Like it would give way if he just leaned a little further into it... _

_Hot breath on his neck and a cloying hand sliding up his body made him jerk his hand away. He stumbled backwards, feet slowed in the sluggishness of a nightmare as he tried to backpedal away from the door. He fell, landing without impact, still trying to scrabble backwards. His body was hot. It burned... but not with pain. No... not pain... It was quaking with desire. Raw. Intense. _

_No matter how hard he tried to flee, he was powerless to move. The door remained where it was, next to the bed and the two figures on it. The boy on the bed had stopped struggling now, accepting the inevitable. He was still screaming in pain, but it was the door... it was the door that was terrifying. _

_The portal was of his own making, somehow he knew that. He had closed it... locked it... but he didn't remember why. The reasons were on the other side. In the dark. Where the broken whimpering was coming from. Whimpering that somehow managing to be even more disturbing than the screams from the bed. Why was the door there? Why had he sealed it shut? What could be worse than what was on _this_ side of the door? _

_The latch jittered. The sounds from the other side were becoming louder. Fire was racing through him again. Shattering. Climactic. No... _no..._ He threw himself forward, catching the crossbeam and forcing it down, not letting it lift. _

_Keep it closed. _

_He didn't want to know what was on the other side. He didn't. _

_Keep it closed. _

_His body was still burning, hungry. Fire... it made his head swim... it was all around him now. Dancing tongues of flame, mesmerizing, devouring... yes... He fell back into the embrace of the blaze with a sigh of relief, watching without pain as it consumed the flesh right off his bones. _

_Burn... burn... burn it all down... leave nothing behind..._

Kaname awoke with a small, strangled cry. His skin was hot and the sheets were tangled lightly around his legs. His body was jerking, flooded with arousal he couldn't explain, exploding in pleasure that brought only confusion. He sucked his breath in, unable to breathe properly for a moment as the muddled, intense release ripped through him, throbbing in his groin in searing jolts as it dragged him from his sleep. His eyes snapped open.

_What the hell...? _

Suddenly a hand was touching his arm. There was a warm body close to his on the bed. Blazing white hot panic speared through the pureblood and he tried to blindly struggle backwards, but his legs were tangled up in the sheets and... _someone else's legs._

"Whoa, _whoa_, hey... it's me... you're dreaming, Kaname. Come on..." a soft, sleepy, familiar voice penetrated Kaname's trembling panic about the same time the images coming from his eyes finally started being processed by his brain.

Zero was lying beside him, leaning up on one elbow now as he blinked sleepily at the pureblood. The hunter's silver hair was wildly mussed from the pillow and sticking up at endearing angles. His half-lidded eyes were a little questioning. Usually if Kaname was waking up from a nightmare, he tried to attack Zero. But this time Kaname had tried to _pull away_ from him. Was this an improvement? Or just a different kind of dream? Zero wasn't sure and his sleepy brain wasn't really processing at its swiftest.

He couldn't miss, however, _how _exactly Kaname had woken up. They were going to have to wash these sheets. Zero smiled at his lover, the hand on Kaname's arm sliding up to brush the pureblood's strangely flushed cheek. "_Nice_ dream?" he mumbled with wry, sleepy amusement, coaxing Kaname to wake the rest of the way up. The pureblood could be downright dangerous when he wasn't lucid.

Kaname closed his eyes, trying to slow his wild breathing and heart. Mortification swept through him. _Crap... what the _**hell **_was _**wrong**_ with him? _That hadn't remotely been normal wet dream kind of material. Why had he responded that way? It was sick... _sick sick sick..._ the loss of control made him feel physically ill.

"Not... really..." he murmured softly, his voice a bit husky from sleep. He instantly regretted it. He didn't want to pique Zero's curiosity or make him think anything was wrong. Kaname couldn't talk about this dream with anyone, especially Zero... his hand slipped out almost without his conscious thought and curled around Zero's, fingers entwining lightly for a moment, needing the contact.

With conscious effort, Kaname's tense body relaxed and he rolled onto his side, facing Zero. He willed the hunter to not see through him. _Please, Zero... _

Fortunately, Zero wasn't in his most perceptive state with only a few hours of sleep under his belt. "No?" he murmured, his head resting on the pillow again as he looked across at Kaname, relaxing as he sensed Kaname relaxing. "Was it kinky?" he grinned a sleepy, shit-eating grin at his lover. Zero yawned, his eyes trying to drift closed despite his efforts to oppose the motion. "If it involved me doing something freaky in leather, I don't want to know about it..." he added in a teasing tone. "And don't get any ideas."

Kaname grinned in the darkness. Zero's humor was exactly what he needed at the moment to try to put to rest the fear and confusion pulsing in his heart in the aftermath of the dream. Kaname's fingers traced the back of Zero's hand lightly, just... being near him. He needed to go take a shower, he wasn't going to be sleeping anymore tonight and he knew it, but he wasn't ready to move just yet. "I didn't say it was about _you_..." he pointed out softly, the playful jibe only a shadow of what he would normally be able to procure, but the normalcy of the banter helped ground him back in the present.

Zero opened one eye and shot him a look. Zero was perfectly capable of being jealous, but not over _dreams_, and Kaname's tone said he was messing with him anyway. "Oh good, then maybe I'll get a break, huh? I swear, your appetite wears me out, Kaname," he murmured, pulling the other's hand to his mouth and pressing a sleepy kiss on the back of Kaname's knuckles.

Kaname smiled faintly and gave Zero's hand a squeeze before letting it go and pushing up to sit. "I'm going to take a shower," he said softly. "Then maybe I'm going to check if there's any updates from Mission Oil." He knew if he didn't warn Zero that he probably wouldn't be back to bed, the hunter might eventually pry himself up to find out what had happened.

The ex-human frowned reprovingly. Business at this hour? Geez, what did Kaname have against sleep, anyway? He knew that this deal Kaname was working on had the pureblood all tied up in knots for some reason, but he didn't like that it was making his lover lose rest. No business matter could be that important... but he knew better than to interfere with Kaname's affairs.

"Kaname..." he murmured in protest, then sighed, making a valiant effort to shake off the sleep hedging back in on him. "Okay, fine... you want some tea? I'll make us some..." Zero wearily slid his elbow under him, battling the strong gravitational pull of the mattress. He was dead tired, but he hated to see Kaname always up working by himself. Surely, he must be tired too...

Kaname smiled gently, appreciating the offer but not about to accept it. He pressed Zero back down with one hand on his shoulder. "No, go back to sleep, Zero. I don't want to keep you up. I'll probably lay back down in an hour or two anyway," he murmured. It was a lie and they both knew it. Kaname wouldn't be back to bed tonight. But Zero accepted that Kaname wanted to be alone, and in all honesty he was relieved because he was so tired he was already starting to drift again.

Kaname felt Zero's body relax in relief under his hand. He knew Zero wanted to sleep, but would have gotten up with him just to keep him company. That's how Zero was. The pureblood leaned down and pressed a light kiss into Zero's hair, softly treasuring what he had here. _Rest well, Zero. _

Kaname slid off the bed and headed for the bathroom. Zero's soft, sleepy voice caught him by surprise before he reached it.

"Love you," he murmured, his voice indicating that sleep was already reaching back up to claim him.

Kaname froze in the darkness, a hard, warm lump rising strangely in his throat. He swallowed slowly, closing his eyes. He knew Zero did, but those were still somewhat rare words from his lips, making them all the more precious. Right now, Kaname had needed to hear them very much. He let his breath out slowly.

"Love you too, Zero," he whispered back, his voice unmistakably husky this time as he quickly slipped into the bathroom and shut the door behind him.


	2. Past and Present

_A/N: Just so you know, not everything in the last chapter (like different parts of the dream, etc.) or in this chapter are supposed to entirely make sense yet. There are many puzzle pieces that will snap into place later as the story continues. Some things that seem vague in this chapter are that way intentionally and will become clear later, I promise. Also, sorry for all the possibly boring talking in this chapter. I swear, the lengthy explanations contained here are going to prove quite important in the long run and I don't know how else to get them out of the way. _

_Another thing I'd like to mention is that the places and situations I'm using in this fic, such as An'swala, etc. are completely fictional and not supposed to relate to anything in the real world. Likewise, when dealing with the way business stuff works, it may or may not be the way things are actually done in our world. Since Vampire Knight is always very vague about where and when exactly it is set (we've never heard any actual references to country names or dates, etc.) lately I'm going more with the idea that it is actually set either in an AU kind of earth with a different history than ours, or far in the future from the world we know. Technologically, however (perhaps because of setbacks due to the wars that the series mentioned early on) they seem to be at around the same place we are now (cars, email, etc.). If anyone is seriously interested in my theories on all that, let me know and I'll ramble. Otherwise, I don't want to get too far off topic. T__his is just to say that unlike in my threesome series, where I was using actual places, like Brazil, etc. in this series I may be more vague, or I may make up countries, etc. with the idea that the world they know is not necessarily the same one we know. Although I will probably still refer to regions such as Europe, the Middle East, Asia, etc. by name since the geography won't have changed and that's just easier. Don't really know yet whether I'll even need to worry about all that, but I figured I'd better mention it upfront just in case. _

_The small flashback at the very end of the chapter is a reference to the Vampire Knight manga, Ch 33 I think, right before this series split off from it canon-wise. :)_

_Wow, okay, possibly my longest author's note ever. Shutting up now. ;)_

**Chapter Two: "Past and Present"**

Three phones were ringing at the reception desk. Zero frowned at the annoying noise as he made his way past it into the restricted area beyond, giving a small nod to the women seated behind the desk. Were he anyone else, they would not have allowed him past the reception area without an appointment. But of course, everyone here knew that Zero Kiriyu got to come and go as he wished, so one of the receptionists merely gave him a nod and an almost smile as she buzzed him through to the inner offices while answering one of the phones at the same time.

"Kuran Corporate Headquarters, how many I help you?..." her voice faded away from Zero's hearing as the door he'd passed through closed behind him. All the walls around here were sound proofed, naturally, which meant that the inner offices where Kaname worked purveyed a much calmer environment than the hectic outer areas did. Usually, anyway. Today, however, Zero could swear there was a feeling of tension in here. It was his hunter senses, telling him he was surrounded by a lot of semi-agitated vampires who were probably not having a good day.

_Oh just peachy friggin' keen. _Nothing like being surrounded by edgy vampires to put the young hunter in a 'good' mood.

Almost all of Kaname's staff and employees in the inner offices were vampires. In a nod to the co-existence he promoted, he hired humans too, but they were ignorant of their co-workers' true natures and mostly tended to work in the outer offices. That was for their own protection. If Kaname employed lot of humans in here, mingled with his vampire employees, other vampires would misread the implications and get the wrong ideas. They would assume that the humans were actually kept on as concealed blood sources for his staff - an employee perk, kind of like donuts in the lunch room or a company car. That was _not_ a perception he wanted to create, so he kept things somewhat segregated for the time being. Co-existence was a slow, time consuming goal.

Zero rubbed his temples, taking a moment to consciously block the uneasy vibes swirling around him as he made his way down the hall towards Kaname's office. They were giving him a headache and making his own vampire instincts skittish and on edge. Vampires could have quite the pack mentality sometimes, he had learned. They picked up on one another's feelings and responded to them, often automatically. Of course, the 'alpha' was the one who set the tone, and as Zero neared Kaname's office, he could tell why everyone else was feeling agitated.

Kaname's aura could be felt even in the hall. It wasn't exactly dark, not like it could get when the pureblood was angry. It was just... unsettled, or perhaps frustrated. The fact that Kaname was broadcasting instead of keeping it tightly under control like he usually did, however, meant that the feelings must be pretty intense.

Zero's frown deepened as gripped the door handle. Kaname had never come back to bed and he'd left for the office early, before Zero woke up. He'd been doing that a lot lately. Since the answers tended to make his eyes glaze, the hunter normally didn't pry too deeply into the intricacies of Kaname's business dealings, but he sure hoped whatever he was working on the past week or two was going to be over soon so his lover could relax a little.

Zero would have entered Kaname's office without knocking if the pureblood was alone, but he could sense other presences within, so he started to wrap his knuckles on the dark, lacquered wood before him. Kaname, however, was apparently already aware of his presence because the door merely swung inward, the handle turning on its own to admit him.

Zero started slightly, although he should be used to Kaname doing things like that by now. Taking the opened door as an invitation, Zero let himself in and shut it behind him. Kaname was seated behind his long desk, talking quietly and rapidly with a group of staff members who were gathered before him on the other side. He did not stop when Zero entered, but shot the hunter a glance that somehow managed to be warm despite the pureblood's obvious distraction. Kaname's eyes flicked to the area behind him, then back to Zero, before returning to the audience with whom he was speaking.

Zero read the silent request in the dark eyes. _I'll be done in a few minutes, wait for me? _

Accustomed to needing to wait, Zero simply passed the others standing in front of the desk and slid around behind to Kaname's side. Another long desk ran along the wall behind the pureblood, neatly stacked with folders and computer equipment. Graceful wood filing cabinets were built in underneath it at intervals. Zero leaned his hips back against the desk, gripping the edge as half stood, half perched upon it.

The other vampires spared the hunter a quick, curious glance, but no more than that. They were obviously intent on their discussion with the pureblood, and they had all seen Zero in and out of Kaname's office before. Official word was, Zero was Kaname's agent and bodyguard - a trusted praetorian like Seiren. But he was also the pureblood's protégé of whom Kaname was very fond and protective. Kaname made no bones about being extremely clear on the kind of respect and consideration he expected everyone to give the young ex-human.

The result was that at least within the Kuran Corporation and the Kuran Syndeo, Zero was usually treated to a level of respect and deference that was unheard of for a Level D. By now, everyone knew he had Kaname's ear and although some might be extremely jealous, they also tried to curry favor with him because of his connections. Zero thought that was just pathetic. Honestly, he kind of preferred it when other vampires in general just hated him, at least it was an honest emotion. He didn't know how Kaname put up with all the pandering sycophants. At least that wasn't a problem _outside _Kaname's realm of influence, where the young ex-human was still regarded as a complete pariah.

Honestly, as long as they weren't whispering, or at least, weren't whispering too loudly, that he was Kaname's thrall, Zero didn't really give a rip what other vampires thought. He knew it bothered Kaname that they had to hide their true relationship, but he himself was fairly content with the bodyguard explanation for now. He rather liked being in the position of protecting his lover, even if it seemed a mostly ceremonial position given Kaname's ample ability to take care of himself. It was certainly far less awkward then when everyone had pretty much just considered him Kaname's courtesan. Besides, it was role he found he was rather good at filling.

Even now, he realized that he had unconsciously positioned himself in the best strategic location. He was behind Kaname and slightly to his right, where he could silently observe both his lover and the other vampires in the room as well as keeping the path to the exit relatively close and clear. If he had to take someone out, he could easily do it from this angle without risk of catching Kaname in the crossfire. Not that he expected he was going to need to do any such thing, of course, but he _could _have.

Zero smiled slightly when he realized what he'd done. Apparently his continued training with Yagari and the occasional praetorian specific sessions that Seiren forced on him had begun to become instinctual.

_Speak of the devil... _Zero's gaze flitted to the doorway again as Seiren let herself into the room, carrying a bundle of papers and a steaming mug of tea. It looked like milk tea with honey, which was a favorite of Kaname's, so Zero knew who it was for even before the ash haired woman placed the cup on the desk by the pureblood's elbow, giving a respectful head bow as she handed over the papers.

Kaname took them without looking at her or noticing the tea. He was focused on a brunette man with whom he was speaking. There seemed to be some kind of problem in some stock acquisition... _blah, blah, blah..._ Zero didn't get it and he didn't really care except that it seemed to have Kaname pretty upset.

"We had an agreement with them, they had no right to sell those shares to _anyone _else," Kaname was saying in that quiet, dangerous tone he had which usually signaled when it was wise to run for the hills. His aides looked like that sounded pretty good, but naturally, was out of the question. "Did you go over the paperwork? Do we have any legal grounds to go after them for this?" The pureblood's question was addressed to the brunette whom Zero guessed was probably one of Kaname's lawyers.

Zero leaned back a little more against the desk, trying to see if he could decipher what was going on. Hanging out in Kaname's office was not really his idea of fun, but he was both interested and concerned about what could have his lover so disturbed. Besides, he didn't have anywhere else he needed to be right now. The young hunter wasn't on assignment at the moment and he was enjoying a short break from training as well since Yagari was away for a semester teaching a class at Cross Academy again.

The lawyer reluctantly shook his head. "I'm sorry Kuran-sama, but they pulled out before any final binding agreements were made about the sale. There is no legal reason for them to not be allowed to sell to whomever they wish."

"Not even enough to just tie it up in court for a while?" Kaname asked, but he had a feeling he already knew the answer before the brunette regretfully shook his head. The pureblood felt like his temples were throbbing and he resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose against the headache building between his eyes. This was not good. Not good at all. He'd thought he had it all buttoned up, but his covert operations must have been uncovered and someone had obviously already gotten to the owner of the final shares he wanted. He was sure he knew who that _someone _was, too.

"What about counter-offers. I told you price was not an object," Kaname rounded on another one of the assembled vampires, an older looking woman with jet black hair pulled back in a bun. "I _trust _that you offered to double any other offer they received?" His tone suggested it would not go well for her if she hadn't thought of that.

Naturally, she was quite good at her job so that wasn't an issue. "Yes, Kuran-sama," she replied quickly. "I even offered to triple it, but was told the matter was already out of their hands. The stock has been sold to another party."

Which meant that his opponent had foreseen a hefty price battle and must have secured other leverage for himself ahead of time in order to have secured such a rapid sale. _Crap. _Kaname should have checked out the principle owner's family and friends, scanned for vulnerabilities - children that could be kidnapped, a spouse or parents that could be threatened. He should have taken measures against something like that... but hindsight was always 20/20 and it was too late to second guess a million what-if scenarios now.

Kaname felt the overwhelming urge to crush something, anything. _Damn it! _He could not _afford _to be a step behind. Not now. Losing was not an option. A silent, hidden shudder ran through his stomach, making him queasy. Losing could _never_ be an option. Not again.

The lawyer cleared his throat, looking distinctly uncomfortable. "Kuran-sama... Thetados Group is also trying to get out of its agreement to sell to us." The man flinched but bravely didn't look away as Kaname's dark gaze turned back onto him. It was obvious he didn't relish being the one to have to bear more bad news. "However, they _do _already have a binding contract with us and I've gone over it twice, there are no loop holes and no exceptions," he hurried to add by way of assurance. "They _cannot _back out of the sale, but we may have to take them to court to force the issue."

Kaname looked royally pissed. "Then do it. Use our connections, bring the case to judgment tomorrow. I don't care what strings you have to pull, I want it over and done by Thursday, no excuses. Understood?" He turned to another staffer. "Pull everything we have on the Thetados Group. After we have the shares - bury them."

A soft chorus of _Yes, Kuran-sama's _answered him and Zero regarded his lover quietly. Kaname was so gentle and caring with him, it was always easy to forget that to the rest of the world he was capable of being quite ruthless when challenged or thwarted.

Kaname was still shooting curt, rapid orders to his staff, most of which Zero didn't understand since he had no context for any of it. The other vampires were either taking notes or nodding swiftly. It was highly unusual for their young leader to be so terse and upset and it left all of them wanting to perform at 200% in order to try and salvage as much of the situation at hand as was possible.

"... make _sure_ we have an _iron clad_ contract with them up front so there will be no surprises later this time. _Clean_ their calendars for them immediately so we can get those appointments scheduled, and find me those missing reports if it's not too much _trouble._" he finished darkly before his gaze rounded on Seiren, who had thus far not been part of the other conversations. "Where is my damn tea?" his voice continued to be soft and controlled, but the fact that a swear word had actually slipped in spoke more volumes about his agitation than shouting would have.

Unlike the others, Seiren didn't flinch, but merely bowed respectfully. "I'll get you some more, my lord," she said quietly, not responding to the undeserved rebuke in the pureblood's tone. She'd known Kaname for a long time, she knew this was not his normal behavior.

Zero frowned. Kaname was kind of being an ass. Was Seiren really going to just go and get him another cup rather than point out that she already _had_ brought him one and he'd just been too preoccupied to notice? The ex-human rolled his eyes. _What was he thinking?_ Of _course_ she was. Because this was _Kaname_ they were talking about. _Geez._

"It's by your damn elbow, Kaname," Zero drawled softly, his voice dry but neutral. The swear word was used ironically and without bite. He would not embarrass Kaname in front of the other vampires by calling him out with as much sarcasm as he might have used if they were alone.

Kaname glanced down and saw that the teacup was indeed sitting there near his elbow. He'd been so focused on the problems that he hadn't noticed, which was a pretty disturbing oversight. He was letting this get to him, acquiring tunnel vision and that wasn't good. _Well, crap. _

Everyone else had suddenly fallen very silent and Seiren glaredat Zero. Kaname was biting heads off left and right and it was _Zero_ she got upset with when he actually intervened on her behalf. _Go figure. _A small smile ghosted the hunter's lips. Despite the unfairness of it, he wasn't upset. Actually, he found it kind of ironically amusing. It was just so... _her. _Seiren was a deep, silent pool that was almost impossible to read. The one thing you could be sure of, was her complete devotion to Kaname and his wishes.

Kaname picked up the cup without a word and took a long sip, conveniently using it for cover as he centered himself and tried to pull back on his irrationally swirling frustration. He realized with embarrassment that although his reasoning and logic for the orders he was giving was sound... he was bordering on acting like a jerk regarding how he gave them. Okay. Maybe more than bordering. There had been no call to snap at Seiren like that. He hated this feeling, more especially since Zero was the one who gently pointed it out. Of course, Zero was the only one who _would _point it out. He drew in a deep breath and told himself to just accept the situation and start formulating new plans. He hadn't gotten what he wanted, but he hadn't necessarily lost the game yet either. It was time to focus on re-strategizing, not throw a hissy fit. What the hell was wrong with him, anyway? _Be calm. _

Kaname set the glass down again. A petty man would have pointed out that it was now tepid and would have demanded another cup to assuage his bruised pride, but Kaname was not petty in that way. He was simply exhausted from not sleeping and stretched brittle with the tension of the past weeks.

"Thank you, Seiren," he said quietly instead, giving her a small nod of approval that also served as silent apology.

Seiren, who knew enough of the world to know that her master was probably the only pureblood with whom this situation would have gone down so peacefully, gave another small bow. The others remained still, doing a good job of impersonating office furniture. Naturally, the fact that Kaname let Zero get away with correcting him like that was not lost on them, but they weren't about to comment.

"You all have your assignments, go," Kaname said simply, dismissing everyone but Zero. The other vampires all left quickly with nods and hurriedly murmured partings, their minds obviously already jumping ahead to whatever they needed to do next. Fortunately, this lot was much too busy to think much about trading gossip, and Kaname was not a subject they would have dared discuss anyway. Showing an inordinate amount of interest in his dealings with his hunter protégé had already proved to be a great way to get fired, so they kept well away from that landmine.

Seiren was the last one out and the only one who paused at the door. "Can I bring you anything else, my lord?" she inquired quietly. There was a faint flicker of concern in her patently unreadable eyes and Zero realized suddenly that she was worried about Kaname too.

Kaname shook his head. "No, thank you. But please let me know the instant that court date is scheduled for Thetados."

Seiren nodded and withdrew, pulling the door mostly shut behind her.

"You're really lucky to have someone as patient as her, you know," Zero commented once it was just he and Kaname in the room. They may butt heads sometimes, but if there was one thing that he and Seiren had in common, it was their dedication to a certain pureblood.

"I know," Kaname replied quietly, running his hand down his face and rubbing his tired eyes. He glanced over at Zero. _Speaking of people I'm lucky to have... _"I'm sorry for the way I acted." It was still difficult for Kaname to apologize for things, to admit fault, but that rarely stopped him when it came to his lover. Sometimes it seemed, he was forever apologizing to Zero.

Zero pushed off the desk and came over to stand in front of where Kaname was sitting. The pureblood looked done-in. Almost without conscious intent, Zero ran his fingers softly through the dark other vampire's, wavy hair. Sometimes, it was hard _not _to touch the pureblood. Instinctively, Kaname tilted his head into his caresses like a cat being stroked. He loved Zero's touch. The brush of Zero's fingertips turned deliberate and even more gentle as he registered Kaname's reaction.

"I'm not the one you were being a jerk to," Zero pointed out, but his tone was mild. He could tell Kaname was apparently under a lot of stress.

"I know," Kaname sighed. "But if I apologize to Seiren she'll only feel mortified and try to make me stop, and the others would just have heart attacks," he murmured wryly. Actually, no one but Zero would expect an apology because no one else would have thought he was being unreasonable. But Kaname didn't say so. It was too easy to act privileged when everyone expected and allowed it. Zero kept him accountable and deep down, he appreciated that.

Zero chuckled softly, conceding that his lover was probably right. Vampire society had its own screwed up rules and balances.

Kaname leaned into him, resting his forehead wearily against Zero's stomach and soaking up the reassuring comfort of his presence as the hunter cradled the raven head between his hands, supporting Kaname carefully as he continued to lightly caress his hair and shoulders. Zero could practically _feel _Kaname's weariness radiating from him and it worried the younger vampire.

"You're working too hard," Zero murmured. "And you're not sleeping. What's wrong, Kaname?"

Kaname wrapped his arms around Zero's waist as he leaned against him, still seated in the chair. He just wanted to soak up Zero's warmth right now, he didn't want to talk. Zero felt so soothing against him and he felt so ridiculously safe and comforted in his embrace. The pureblood was still troubled by his dream last night and the totally bizarre feelings it had evoked, but it was easier not to think about it when Zero was close to him.

"You'll just think it's silly," he murmured, voice muffled against Zero's shirt.

Zero smiled fondly, one arm encircling Kaname's shoulders, the other still running slowly through his hair. "So? Try me."

"It's nothing, Zero. A long, boring story. I wasn't able to secure the controlling interest in a company that is in danger of being absorbed into another company," the pureblood sighed heavily, closing his eyes. _And I was being juvenile about it..._

Yeah, Zero did think it was kind of silly, but then business wasn't really his thing. Kaname was not someone to get riled over trifles, however, so it must be important in some way. "And...? Not keeping the company from being absorbed means...?" Zero prodded for an explanation. Sometimes a fresh set of eyes and ears could help, and he did want to help.

"That many thousands of people in An'swala will lose their jobs and probably their lives due to the resulting war," the pureblood replied wearily.

Zero's eyebrows shot up and he glanced down at the man he was holding. _Yeah, okay, maybe just a __**little **__important._ "Oh. I see." But he didn't really, he didn't get the correlation at all.

Kaname sighed, knowing that having said that much, he now needed to explain. The full picture was long and complicated, but if Zero really wanted to know he'd tell him. Besides, the young hunter would have to be briefed sooner or later, since Kaname intended to ask for his assistance.

"The company in question is Mission Oil. It's not a very big player in the market, but it's big enough. It's owned by the ruling family of the emirate of An'swala and provides the region's only truly profitable export. More than half the population around the capital and even in the outlying areas are employed in some field that relates to the drilling, refining and selling of oil. About twenty years ago, experts told them that their current deposits would be completely depleted before the end of the century. The country was going through a civil war at that point, and resources with which to search for new deposits were limited. Mission Oil's structure was revised and shares of the company were sold to various concerns around the world, in return for the funds to explore new drilling sites... and to fund the Emir's side of the country's internal conflict. Both moves were successful. The civil war was brutally put down and new drilling fields were discovered and put into use, securing the company and the country's future.

"Over time, the original shares have been divided and scattered, being bought and sold between groups and individuals around the globe. The Emir wisely retained enough of the shares to keep a controlling interest in the company and the other shareholders were only interested in the return on their investment, which has been substantial. Two years ago, the Emir and his oldest son and heir both died in a plane crash. Losing the heir apparent at the same time as the current leader meant that the company was divided between the Emir's three remaining sons and left the succession to the throne in doubt. Predictably, this led to conflict and internal strife in the country once more as the three sons began to fight and each tried to take control." Kaname shrugged his shoulders in a slightly weary gesture to indicate how tiresomely predictable that outcome had been. Vampires were not the only ones willing to tear each other's throats out for power, it was a deep affliction of the human race as well.

The pureblood leaned back in his chair, looking up at Zero, but keeping his arms loosely wrapped around the hunter's waist as he related the story.

"This resulted in more shares being sold off to finance their various bids for power. None of them had a controlling interest by themselves and with the right to rule the entire area at stake, they didn't seem to think it very important. Mission Oil has always belonged to the Emir of An'swala, and it was assumed that whoever finally triumphed would retake that position as well. Throughout the turmoil, Mission Oil continued to function although productivity did suffer due to the infighting. Eventually, after two years of bloodshed, one brother finally came out on top and has named himself the new Emir. By that time, the reunited shares of the company only amounted to about 20% of the shares outstanding. That was a controlling interest only because the rest of the shares were scattered about in even smaller portions so he still had the majority. Unfortunately for him, the country had been badly ravaged by all the years of fighting. An unexpectedly harsh winter and an epidemic that spread rapidly through much of the more populated areas of the region took a heavy toll on the emirate's population, morale and productivity. People who had supported his brothers blame the current Emir for all their troubles and a militant group blew up two key refineries three weeks ago. Without those refineries, Mission Oil is effectively..."

"Screwed?" Zero offered when Kaname seemed to be momentarily searching for an appropriate description.

"I was going to say 'in trouble', but yes, that works," Kaname returned with a wry grin. He felt like he was probably belaboring this story, most of which was of little importance except for being an explanation of how things had gotten to where they were now, but since Zero didn't necessarily have his interest in or grasp of business politics he was trying to put this forth in an understandable manner. He knew that simply saying Mission Oil had suffered a decentralization of shares and a serious interruption of productivity and capital wouldn't really paint a useful picture for the hunter... nor, in truth, would it touch on the human cost involved either.

"In order to keep from losing everything, the Emir made a deal with a large international business conglomerate known as Orion. He surrendered control of half his shares to them and in exchange they were to provide new refineries and save Mission Oil from falling apart. Unfortunately for the idiot Emir, during negotiations, he apparently failed to nail down _where _the new refineries would be provided. Orion owns another major oil company - Trifecta. Trifecta has massive refinery facilities located in one of the countries adjacent to An'swala. Orion wishes to merge Mission Oil and Trifecta into one company and transfer all refining and other processing out of An'swala, keeping only Mission Oil's drilling operations in place. It will save them millions and make millions more in the future. Orion had already quietly amassed a serious chunk of Mission Oil shares through various sub-companies before stepping in. Once they had half the Emir's shares, they centralized their other share holdings, ending up with a larger percentage than the Emir himself and obtaining controlling interest in the company.

"If they force the merger through, it will be utterly disastrous for An'swala's shambled economy. As I said earlier, over half the population is employed in oil related industry. On top of all their other trouble, closing down all the remaining refineries and other such businesses would effectively destroy what is left of the nation's economy and stability. When people are without hope they will lash out. That the people of An'swala will revolt against the Emir and start a war with their neighboring country, to whom they feel they are losing their very life's blood, is almost a certainty. It will gain them and those whom they attack nothing, but sentient beings can only be pushed so far."

Zero was honestly appalled to hear what was happening. Naturally, he'd heard about the internal turmoil in An'swala these past years. It had made the news occasionally and as a hunter he stayed fairly well informed on world events. But it seemed like that region of the world was always in conflict about something or another, and the internal affairs of small, squabbling oil kingdoms did not seem to garner much serious attention from the world press. "And nobody's doing anything about this?" he inquired, brows knit. One hand was resting on Kaname's arm, the other on his shoulder as he gazed down at him.

Kaname raised his eyebrows. Zero was still endearingly naive sometimes. "Why should they? An'swala's problems are generally considered to be self-inflicted and no one really cares if two little countries in the middle of the desert go to war or not. Neither have mass destruction capabilities. An'swala will either be crushed and taken over by the neighbor it will have so foolishly attacked, or, if they decimate each other seriously enough then some of the larger world powers will eventually step in, clean up the mess and take over the natural resources themselves. Orion is large enough and powerful enough that they and their production will be protected in any case. Mission Oil may be small enough to be expendable, but interruption in Trifecta's operations would seriously increase the global market price and of course," the pureblood's smile was dark. "No one wants to let that happen, right?"

Zero knew Kaname was right, but the politics of it all disgusted him. He shook his head, a curious look stealing into his expression. "I assume then that what you were talking about trying to acquire earlier are shares of Mission Oil? You were trying to buy up the scattered shares and get a larger majority than Orion so that you could take over and choose _not _to merge the companies. But Orion must have figured it out and is fighting back by doing the same?" Zero proved his astute capabilities by putting the remaining pieces together himself.

Kaname nodded, unable to resist a small smile at Zero's quick and accurate reasoning. "Exactly."

"So... if no one else does, why do _you_ care?" Zero finally asked quietly. He didn't mean that quite like it sounded, but... he wasn't an idiot either. Kaname did have some pretty altruistic ideals and causes, such as human/vampire co-existence for example, but the pureblood wasn't going to involve himself in someone else's mess, especially one of this magnitude, if it didn't benefit him or his goals in some way. "I mean... why is this a concern of yours?" Zero tried to correct the way that had come across, but didn't succeed. He bit his lower lip slightly. _Okay, just stop talking now._

Kaname smiled a bit wanly. He saw the thoughts in Zero's eyes. "Because this is not a purely human problem," he admitted. "Vampire involvement runs straight through the middle of it, and that _is _my concern."

Zero's attention was once more captured as this new wrinkle was brought to light. Kaname's habit of needing to tell the story from beginning to end before getting to the important parts was sometimes a little trying, but he was getting used to it.

"The vampire syndeo that operates in that corner of the world is headed by a noble. It's not very powerful, but for about the last thirty years it has been growing exponentially as a result of the conflicts in An'swala."

Zero looked as if Kaname had just lost him, so the pureblood elaborated. "The vampires there have been provoking the civil wars and internal strife in that region for decades. Bloodshed and chaos is good for them. They can feed as they please and kill without repercussions or notice. It's a favorite trick of lower class vampire leaders who wish to increase their followers and their power. The ability to feed freely without drawing attention, even from the Hunters, is rare in our modern world. Internally chaotic and warring nations which the world is content to ignore are a prime way for them to tempt other vampires away from their current syndeo affiliations in search of "greener pastures" so to speak." The disdain was clear in the pureblood's voice and was mirrored by disgusted horror in Zero's eyes.

"Kind of like throwing a free buffet to sell timeshares," the young hunter said darkly, his eyes hard with an old loathing that would never completely leave him, although it was certainly no longer directed at the man sitting with him now.

Kaname nodded simply. "Yes. An unfortunately apt description. It's an old, old story and given how eager humans are to start wars with or without our involvement, it's often difficult even for other vampires to spot."

Zero looked very troubled. He'd not heard about things like this from Yagari or any of the other hunters he knew. Granted, it was a slow, uphill battle getting most of the other hunters to trust him still at this point, but he found it hard to believe that in all his training about vampire methods and devices he hadn't been told about this particular tactic. "Do the hunters know about this?" he couldn't help asking. The hunters knew much about vampires, but since Zero had been living with Kaname, he had begun to realize that there still managed to be a number of things that they didn't know as well.

"I only became aware of their involvement in An'swala about a year ago, and at that time started taking some steps to try and limit the fallout. I'm fairly certain the hunters don't know about it yet," Kaname answered, then he seemed to realize that Zero's question had a double meaning and his expression too turned slightly troubled before it finally cleared again.

"I'm sure at some point they've encountered this tactic before, but whether they think they were isolated instances, or realize the pattern is beyond my knowledge," the pureblood said simply. "Vampires as a whole have tried to keep it from them, preferring to deal with these situations internally rather than expose even their enemies to hunter involvement. Understand that vampires are very territorial creatures. Those who seek to steal too many members from someone else's syndeo are likely to find themselves at odds with whomever they're stealing from, which means that eventually one of the two will succeeded in doing away with the other and absorb all their followers, bringing peace back to the area for both vampires and humans... for a time."

Zero was silent for a moment, absorbing the unspoken weight of what Kaname had just shared. Sometimes he couldn't help thinking that things Kaname told him, the things he shared so freely... other vampires would probably kill to keep from hunter ears. Kaname trusted him enough to simply talk through them like it was nothing, but then Zero was left in a quandary. When did he speak, and when did he stay silent? Despite having come to a broader view of vampires over the past couple years, Zero still felt that his allegiance lay more with humans and with hunters. No, first and foremost... it lay with Kaname, _then _with humans and hunters. Would it be a betrayal of Kaname's trust if he told Yagari about the things he learned? But why did Kaname tell him then, _knowing _he was a hunter, and how he felt?

Kaname leaned back in, resting his head against Zero's stomach again. He felt so tired. The negative adrenaline rush of finding out that Orion had caught onto his gambit sooner than he had expected or would have liked had utterly worn out the already tired pureblood. He'd been so achingly careful... buying the shares through a host of shell companies and subsidiaries, taking his time about it so it wouldn't look suspicious and what he was planning wouldn't be apparent... but they'd seen it anyway and swung into motion with devastating effectiveness. Kaname had so many of the shares now, it was almost too late for them to counter him. _Almost._ The game wasn't over yet, and now with these new stumbling blocks, it seemed that it might be just beginning.

In all honesty, Mission Oil as an asset wasn't _that_ important. Yes, Kaname did feel a responsibility to try and clean up the mess that some of his more annoying kindred over in An'swala had made and yes, it would be a nice addition to Kuran Corporation's growing portfolio of global industry. Those were the original reasons why he had started to involve himself over a year ago. He had a vested interest in trying to prove that vampires were capable of policing their own and punishing unmitigated crimes against humans. It was something that was essential if co-existence were ever to become possible.

Even so, he'd mostly kept his involvement veiled because it wasn't prudent to get the reputation as a busy-body who was too interested in meddling in others affairs. The vampire world didn't take kindly to that. At first, he'd merely wanted to nudge the region back towards some stability, but then Orion had become involved and everything had changed. Now, he wanted Mission Oil because Orion seemed to want it so badly, and because... _because he could not lose again. Not once he'd accepted the challenge. He could not. _Kaname felt a cold, clamminess inside of him and repressed it quickly. This had become personal. But... that wasn't something he could explain to Zero.

"Zero, there's a high probability that we may come to a stalemate, with my company and Orion each owning fifty percent of Mission Oil and neither having a controlling share," Kaname finally spoke again after several moments. "In which case I shall be meeting with the head of Orion in order to pursue further negotiations. It would be sometime next week if that happens. You'll still be here then, won't you?" The pureblood asked before he could second guess himself. He cringed inwardly, thinking there had to have been a better way to phrase that that didn't sound quite so... desperate.

It only sounded desperate to the pureblood, however. Zero didn't take it that way. It didn't seem an unnatural question to him and honestly, he kind of liked the implication that Kaname hoped he was going to still be there. "Yeah," he answered easily. "Unless an emergency comes up, I'm not due to go anywhere for another couple weeks," he confirmed, fingers tangled absently in Kaname's hair once more.

Kaname felt more relieved than he probably should have. "Then you can come with me," he murmured decidedly. If Zero wasn't available, it would be Seiren, but trust her as he did, there were many reasons why Kaname would much rather have Zero with him for this particular meeting, if it should come to be. "Orion is also vampire owned," he added by way of partial explanation.

Zero groaned softly, even though he didn't mind... well... okay, didn't mind _too _much. Playing bodyguard for Kaname at business meetings was not his favorite pastime, although he did it fairly frequently these days. "Okay, fine. But you'll owe me," he teased.

Kaname smiled, nuzzling into him a little further. "Okay. Oh, and Zero..." he added after a moment. "If you want to tell Yagari or anyone else about any of what I said earlier..." he paused slightly. "It's all right. I trust your judgment." It wasn't like it was really a _secret _after all, and the practice in question wasn't one of which Kaname approved anyway.

Zero felt relieved, a vague tension he didn't realize he had been feeling sliding away. He squeezed Kaname's shoulders a little tighter. The hunter was silent for a while, content to just hold Kaname and sensing that the pureblood both wanted and needed him to do so.

Kaname left his eyes closed. He felt comfortable and able to relax in Zero's embrace. He was so tired. He felt almost as if he could... could...

Zero smiled softly, a warm, tender ache in his chest as he felt Kaname's body slacken gradually against him, the pureblood's breathing slowing and leveling out. Kaname had actually fallen asleep in his arms. Zero closed his eyes and swallowed. It was still very special to him, the way Kaname trusted him, the way he felt so safe he could just drop off in his office so long as Zero was there.

Zero shifted slightly on his feet, but remained where he was. It wasn't an entirely comfortable position, but he hated to stir Kaname when the pureblood was so tired and he knew that he'd never convince him to go home and rest. So he cupped Kaname's head gently against him instead, supporting the pureblood's softly rising and falling shoulders and letting him nap.

That was how Seiren found them almost fifteen minutes later when she came to give Kaname the update he had requested earlier. She stopped when she saw them - Kaname leaned into Zero's body, sleeping in the hunter's arms. Her neutral expression softened for a moment and when her gaze flickered to Zero's, the hunter thought he actually saw approval in it towards him for once. Silently, she withdrew again, fully closing the door behind her.

Kaname's sleep was peaceful at first, but then... then the dreams came. _The door was there, beckoning to him with frightful allure and terror, all at the same time. What was on the other side? Again, he jerked back from it, heart pounding in time to the soft, muted sounds of distant sobbing. He was falling, falling into nothingness..._

Kaname awoke with a start and a small gasp. He was disorientated, but this time he was aware enough to realize whose scent it was that filled his senses and against whose body he was reassuringly pressed. Long fingers tightened in Zero's shirt for a moment as he blinked, making the transition back to wakefulness and processing the fact that he'd dozed off.

Zero's face creased in momentary concern as Kaname jerked awake with an obvious sense of distress, but it was gone quickly and then the pureblood just looked tired and somewhat sheepish as he rubbed his eyes, leaning back in the chair and rubbing a kink out of his neck from the angle he'd been leaning.

"You okay?" Zero asked quietly, stretching his back and rubbing his own neck as well, sorry that Kaname had to wake up, but glad to be able to move again. His feet were falling asleep.

Kaname nodded with a small, rueful smile. "I didn't mean to drop off like that, sorry."

Zero shook his head. "No, it's okay, you _should _rest. You hardly slept at all last night, or the night before, or the one before that..." His gaze was honestly concerned. He bent in order to put himself at eye level with the seated pureblood, hands resting on the chair arms on either side of Kaname's body.

"I get that you're really busy with this whole oil thing, but if anything else is bothering you... you know you can tell me, right?" he said with quiet earnestness, silver-amethyst eyes searching the other vampire's face. Kaname had a tendency to push himself, to over-extend to what Zero thought were ridiculous lengths and let his natural strength cover for him. He probably always had, but no one saw it because that wasn't something the world was allowed to see. But living with Kaname like he did, knowing him more deeply than others knew him, Zero saw it happen a lot. It was quite probable that that was all this was now, but somehow... something inside Zero didn't feel right. There was nothing that his mind could latch onto for a reason, but it was just... a feeling.

Kaname felt his heart tug as he found himself looking into Zero's beautiful, concerned eyes. _Close... so close to him._ There was a weak, traitorous part of his heart that wanted to give into that concern, that wanted to spill forth at least some small amount of the painful truth he kept hidden. Zero was a safe place. He could tell Zero almost anything... anything but this. Because the fear that the closeness would be pulled away, that the gentleness in his eyes would be tainted with something else was too strong. Did he really think so little of Zero's love for him? _No._ But did he really think so little of himself? _Yes. _

Besides, the hunter wasn't great at hiding how he felt about people when he disliked them and if Kaname _did _have to negotiate with Orion's CEO and Zero was acting like he wanted to kill somebody... that would not go down well.

"I know," Kaname murmured, smiling warmly, letting the true ache of tender emotion that he felt show in his eyes and banishing anything else from them. His fingers curled behind Zero's head and he pulled the hunter in for a soft, slow kiss. "I'm sorry I've been making you worry. This whole situation with Mission Oil has me more on edge that it should. I just..." he sighed slightly. "I don't want to lose," he admitted with a small smile. Maybe that made him sound petty, but it was also quite true.

Zero chuckled against his parted lips, tasting his lover's flavor fully once more before finally pulling back. "You and your games," he murmured with exasperated affection. He had no trouble believing that Kaname could get quite worked up and over-invested if he cared about winning a gambit enough. And actually, in this instance, he had to admit that he could understand that feeling and completely support what his lover was doing. It wasn't like this was just a fight over business and power, there were lives at stake and the fact that Kaname had stated that from the start said it was a very real factor in the pureblood's calculations.

Straightening, Zero squeezed his shoulder. "I think you're doing a good thing here, Kaname. If I can help..." he left it open. He knew Kaname would let him know if there was a part he could play.

Kaname placed his hand over the hunter's, giving it a return squeeze. "Thank you," Kaname said with a small smile, mischief sparking briefly in the dark eyes. "But you'd better watch out, I'll hold you to that."

Zero chuckled. "Don't I know it."

Seiren returned again to deliver her report and after extracting the promise that Kaname would take a break later to join him for lunch, Zero took his leave and let the pureblood get back to work. Normally, Kaname hated to see him go, even when he was busy, but today it was kind of a relief. He felt guilty about that, but it was hard to act like everything was fine and make Zero believe it. Harder than it was with everyone else who simply wouldn't ask or wouldn't question him.

He'd already learned the hard way that hiding things from Zero wasn't a great plan, but he didn't really have another option at the moment. How could he explain things he only partially understood himself? Like the dreams he was having... what was up with that? Parts of them made sense. Parts of them had been real. Even the vague analogy of the door could be analyzed rationally to an extent... but not the way he had reacted. No. The way he had awoken was unthinkable and utterly confusing as hell. The pain and the fear he understood, but the pleasure? What twisted hell had that come from? It made no sense. There had been no pleasure in that pain.

What kind of a sick, twisted freak was he that the imagery and the memories in his dream could have actually gotten him off? The question was wreaking serious havoc with his mind. There was something fundamentally _wrong _with him, there had to be.

Kaname left his desk and went to his private restroom. Just remembering the dreams made him feel dirty, his skin unclean. He leaned over the sink and splashed cold water on his face, trying to dispel sensation and the memories, such as they were.

It was ancient history. No reason it should be causing him trouble like this now, after all this time. He had been a stupid kid. He had left himself vulnerable and he had been hurt as a result. He had been taught an intentional lesson about the price of failure and it was one he'd never forgotten. One thing the world could not forgive was a weak pureblood vampire. Their race was meant to be strong and only the strong survived.

Kaname splashed more water on his face, pressing his eyes shut, trying to forget pale charmeuse sheets and soft, mocking laughter. The memories were shameful and he pulled away from them like poison. As always, they left him wondering... what could have been worse?

Something had been. Something he had locked away behind that door in his dreams. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe the dreams and his agitation now was punishment for his unforgivable cowardice then. He'd never know unless he opened that door, but just thinking about it made him sick.

Before he realized that the sensation was more than just emotional, his stomach heaved and Kaname gagged, gripping the edges of the sink as he threw up. The heaves continued a few more times, ripping through his chest and burning his throat with bile. He'd not eaten enough recently to have anything appreciable to expel.

Shaking, Kaname gripped the edges of the sink hard enough to crack the porcelain bowl. Water dripped from his nose and the ends of his hair. He stared at the running flow as it swirled his vomit away down the drain.

Water was dripping onto the floor, sluicing slowly through the crack he'd created in the sink bowl and escaping. It made the tiles under his feet slick and cast rain-like spatter up on his dress shoes, but Kaname didn't notice. The past that he knew, couldn't explain what was happening to him now. Couldn't explain why he felt so sick and so damn... damn _scared._ Maybe the problem was within him. Maybe you couldn't ever truly forget some things. Maybe you _shouldn't. _

The strong, proud shoulders trembled, knuckles still white on the edges of the sink as a different part of his history returned to haunt him.

_"Even if the hidden past is drenched in blood, do you still want to know?" his own words, accompanied by Yuki's serious, earnest expression filtered back to him across the years. _Kaname reached out vaguely with one hand, as if he could touch her face in his minds-eye as he watched her nod. _"Yes, Kaname-Senpai..."_

Kaname let his hand fall back to his side as the image dissolved, revealing only his own pale, dripping face staring back at him in the bathroom mirror with soft, familiar pain on his haggard features. A heavy thread of self-disgust formed thickly within him. Ironic, wasn't it? She'd been so much braver than he was. He didn't have to _look_ for answers. He owned the keys to his own secrets, but... he didn't want to face them. He... he couldn't.

Kaname bowed his head, and now, not all the moisture running down his cheeks and dripping from his chin, was sink water.


	3. When Did I Become Invisible?

_A/N: Well, uh, never say that stories don't write themselves. Mine do, all the time, apparently. The flashbacks in this chapter of what's been going on the past few months were supposed to be mere references that would take a grand total of a few paragraphs in the flow of the story, and yet SOMEHOW they managed to grow like little weeds and end up filling almost a whole chapter. :X (by the way, when I say flashbacks, these are tame, recent event flashbacks, not angsty Kaname-past ones so no worries - yet ;D). Hopefully you'll find it all interesting, and yes, everything does actually tie into the overall plot in different ways. This story seems so uncollected at the beginning I feel like I need to keep saying that, but it only _seems _that way, the threads will start coming together as we go along. _

_A small note on the issues regarding Zero and the hunters - the situation in this fic is obviously different from the manga for many reasons including the fact that Cross is not around, the other hunters are not aware of Zero's power, Zero and Ichiru have not merged, and Zero is very closely associated with Kaname, which other hunters aren't going to trust at first. _

_This chapter follows Zero a lot because I felt it was important that we get where our dear hunter's head is and where he's coming from so we can understand how recent events shape and impact the way he perceives, reacts and tries to understand what's happening with Kaname. And now I'm just plain explaining things that don't need explaining, so I will be quiet. ;)_

_As always, individual review responses are in my forum, don't forget to check my bio page for the link. :)_

**Chapter Three: "When Did I Become Invisible?"**

Zero fiddled with the napkin, rolling it back and forth between his fingers as he sipped on his third glass of juice and tried to ignore the by now familiar sensation of being completely surrounded by unknown vampires. When he was younger, part of the reason he hated going into the Moon Dorms at Cross Academy was because of the way it made his hunter senses react. He'd learned to control that now, but it still created a small knot of tension in the back of his head.

There weren't a lot of human cafe's serving lunch at 2am in the morning and 24 hour diners did not tend to have the kind of ambiance or menu choices that Kaname preferred. So, if the pureblood and the ex-human wanted to have lunch somewhere on days when Kaname was working in his office, it meant they frequented places like this.

Actually, it was a very nice little restaurant. The dim, candle-lit interior was suited for vampire eyes and even during the lunch rush the way the structure was built kept things from becoming as loud as they would have in a human restaurant. Sensitive eyes, sensitive ears and sensitive palates, this place knew how to appeal to its patrons, it wasn't a wonder that if Kaname was going to eat in public, this was one of his preferred places.

Now, if only said pureblood would bother to _show up... _Zero glanced at his watch, _again_ and once more kicked himself for having forgotten his mobile phone at home when he left the house. He sighed, resisting the urge to drum his fingers on the table. They had agreed to meet over an hour ago. Kaname was usually fairly prompt, but it wasn't always easy for the pureblood to get away. Zero had had to wait lunch for him before occasionally, but recently it had become the norm rather than the exception. The time for simply being late was far past by now, and Zero was beginning to conclude that he had been forgotten. Again.

That made him feel a little melancholy, which was stupid, it was just _lunch _for goodness sake. So he focused on feeling irritated instead. It wasn't the first time it had happened, after all. Kaname had bailed on him for dinner two days ago and hadn't even come home the day before that. But those things happened. They'd been together for over three years now, it wasn't like they didn't owe each other a little leeway. It wasn't as if Kaname's distraction and lack of apparent interest _meant _anything. _No. It didn't. It didn't._ Well, except maybe that Kaname was working way too hard and ought to have his ass kicked, if only he didn't look so compellingly, pathetically tired and affection starved every time Zero was feeling ready to tell him off.

Still, they'd only made these plans a few hours ago, you'd think that wasn't _too _long of a time to expect Kaname to remember them. He could have at least let Zero know if he was going to be late, or not show entirely... _in which case, he would have probably called your mobile, which you don't have with you... _Zero shoved the unfortunately logical thought away, peeved that it was interfering with his nicely stewing ill-temper.

The hunter rebelliously ignored the looks he was getting from a group of nobles nearby. Actually, they could barely see him because the private table the hunter was seated at was tucked back into a dim, comfortably obscure corner. It was the table he and Kaname always chose since neither of them liked to be out in the public eye unnecessarily. It was also considered one of the best tables in the restaurant, which meant that it was inside the unmarked but clearly delineated _upper-class only _section. The other nobles may not be able to properly see Zero, but they could sense and smell him just fine and they knew what he was not one of _them_. He did not belong there. It was like smoking in the non-smoking section... only more taboo.

Nobody looked twice when Kaname was there. It was his name that always got them this table, and Zero had never felt weird about it when they were together. But by this point he was keenly aware that he'd been holding the coveted table without even ordering anything for over an hour. Well, the other patrons could just go stuff it. Zero got a certain, rebellious satisfaction out of sitting there and silently thumbing his nose at the blood-snobs who were put off their food by having an unaccompanied ex-human sitting in their section. But he did feel bad for his server, who was the only person in the restaurant treating him nicely.

The young woman waiting the tables knew that Kaname and Zero usually came in together, so that might be why she was being polite to him, but Zero preferred to think otherwise. For all his defiance, it did get tiring sometimes to only be liked because you knew the right people.

"More juice while you're waiting?" the woman in question inquired as she stopped beside him. Zero could have sworn there was an almost sympathetic look in her eyes and it made him a bit flustered.

Making a decision, he shook his head. "No, thanks. I guess I've been stood up," he said with rueful, self-deprecating half grin. "I'm sorry about tying up your table."

The woman smiled, and it was genuine. None of her other customers in this section would have cared or even thought of that. She was a common vampire, a low-blood, suitable to be here only because she was part of the serving staff. The tattooed, pierced and casually defiant ex-human in his long sleeved tee and jeans stood out from the sea of suit-clad, self-important businessmen in more ways than one. He treated her like an actual person and it was kind of refreshing. "It's no problem, I'm sorry Kuran-sama couldn't make it. Do you want to order?"

_Yeah, I'm sorry too. _Zero shook his head. He didn't feel like eating here alone. "No, that's all right. But thanks for the drinks. How much do I owe?"

The woman shook her head. "Don't worry about it..." she started to say, but Zero was already shaking his head as well. He appreciated her offer, but couldn't accept. He made a decent living and had a partner who had more money than should be legal. He wouldn't feel right.

Rising, Zero pulled out his wallet and laid several bills on the table, enough to cover the drinks and a generous tip that was probably three times what the actual tab would have been. Kaname was an overly generous tipper. Zero was not usually _quite _so free with his money, but he made an exception in this case.

Tilting the woman a nod and feeling slightly less cranky when he saw the honest, grateful smile on her face, Zero took his leave. He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked with deliberate slowness as he passed the staring nobles' table, _"accidentally" _brushing the back of one of the chairs with his elbow and hip as he made his way towards the exit.

He smirked to himself as the person in the chair leaned quickly away from him as if he had leprosy and everyone at the table looked shocked and indignant. He kept walking and didn't look back, although his attention stayed focused behind him, watchful for any signs of immanent attack. He found himself actually hoping they would try something, but no one did and he left the restaurant without incident.

Out on the sidewalk, he sighed and glanced up at the stars. He could go back to Kaname's office... but if Kaname was too busy to make lunch, he should probably just let him be. Besides, Zero was still a bit irritated and didn't feel like being that pathetic. No need to advertise that he didn't have anything better to do with his time. Kaname had a life and so did he. He just... didn't have much to do in his at the moment. Actually, that_ should_ have been a relief, considering how hectic the past couple months had been for him.

He and Yagari had been assigned to participate in a group operation by the Hunter's Association. They, along with eight others, were ordered to hunt and monitor some potentially dangerous vampire dissenter cells that were scattered across several countries. The cells appeared to be operating independently of their respective syndeos and when vampires broke from the pack they were always of interest and possible concern to the Association.

It was Zero's first time working a job in cooperation with hunters other than just Yagari and it had not gone too well. The Association kept and occasionally used tamed vampires in their work, so it was hard at first to get the others past treating Zero like one of those and accept that he was meant to be an equal part of the team. Yagari had finally knocked a couple of heads together in private to _"clear their thinking"_, something Zero hadn't realized until after the fact and still made him feel pretty embarrassed.

They were civil enough after that, if you didn't count the expected, occasional jokes at the expense of Zero's dual nature. But they refused to bed down near the ex-human's sleeping place when in camp and no one save Yagari would consent to be teamed with him if they were going off alone. Zero understood where they were coming from. A few years ago he had not acted so very different, even though he _was _a vampire. That didn't mean, however, that it was easy to always be rejected and treated as sub-human by both hunter and vampire society alike.

Maybe it was the added weight of those recent events that was making Kaname's currently distracted and seemingly thoughtless attitude towards him weigh heavier than it should.

Zero sighed again and started walking back towards the parking garage where he'd left his bike. It was a fairly long ride home from here, maybe it would help clear his head. He found the sleek black motorcycle where he left it and fished in his jeans pocket for the keys as he swung a leg over. He ought to wear a helmet, but... well, being a vampire had to be good for something, right?

Zero accelerated out of the garage and spun off onto the nearly deserted city roads, heading for the highway and the countryside beyond. His shirt pressed against him, the cool night air whipping at his silver hair. The wind in his face was refreshing and gave him a sense of calm. He smiled slightly. The motorcycle was new and he was very fond of it. Kaname would have gotten him anything he wanted of course, but Zero felt extra satisfaction that he'd gotten this himself. The money for the last assignment he'd been on had paid for it, actually. He'd gotten a hazard bonus because he'd been injured in the line of duty.

Zero resisted an eye roll at that memory. _Mental note to self, watch out for allies as well as enemies. _After all, it wasn't the rouge vampires who had ambushed them which dealt him the injury. Vampires he could deal with just fine. He'd been injured when one of his _teammates_ let battle frenzy cloud his senses and didn't remember to be careful of the fact that there was a vampire in the melee who was on their side. The other young hunter had shot at the presence without thinking, and Zero hadn't been expecting to have to dodge his own teammates.

...

_Zero sensed the young hunter somewhere behind him, but his focus was on the snarling vampire in front of him who was trying to get fangs and claws on him. The vampire was rouge, but he wasn't yet a Level E, which made him twice as dangerous in some ways. Zero finally got a clear shot at him. The vampire jerked back, shrieking in pain, but did not turn to dust as a Level E would have. E's were already at the end of their existence. For all their unnatural strength, they were physically weak and hunters could usually down them with a single shot. Non-E's took more than that. _

_The vampire leapt at Zero and the ex-human quickly fired again, two more times in rapid succession - head and heart. The vampire turned to ash mere moments before he would have impacted with Zero's body. Zero, braced for the impact just in case, staggered back a step as the grit blew into his eyes. At the same moment, he felt unexpected pain rip through his shoulder blade like a white-hot poker. He cried out at the pain, knees buckling. For an instant he thought he must have missed sensing the incoming attack of another vampire, but just as quickly he realized the pain was all wrong. This was not the pain of vampire claws and it was worse than just getting shot with a normal bullet. It burned like the fires of hell, as if it were trying to eat his flesh. Which it was. Because he'd been nailed by a _hunter _round. _

_Another round pinged off the ground by his head, making his heart jump into his throat and forcing him to quickly roll away from that spot, gripping his bleeding shoulder with his good hand. "Stop! Don't shoot, damn it, I'm on your side!" he barked angrily. _

_With hunter poison pumping through his system, he couldn't summon any of his enhanced reflexes or abilities and it made him feel weak and slow. The vulnerability was like an unexpected punch in the gut which let him know, quite unpleasantly, that he'd become much more accustomed to and dependent upon his vampire nature than he liked to admit. Shit. _

_"K-Kiriyu?" the startled voice was slightly frightened. A figure appeared quickly by Zero's side and the ex-human grimaced. He should have known... _

_"Yeah, it's me. Damn it, Kio, don't shoot without looking!" he snapped. His irritability could perhaps be forgiven, his shoulder was screaming pain at him and his head was spinning. He was also uncomfortably aware that he was not sure where the other vampires and hunters were or what was happening in the rest of the battle. _

_Kio was little more than a boy, barely 15. He was the only other apprentice hunter on the mission. Zero supposed he should feel better that it was the kid who had accidentally shot him rather than one of the adults. At least with Kio, he could be pretty sure it had been an honest accident and not on some level intentional. He struggled back up to his knees, still gripping his shoulder and looking around quickly for where he'd dropped the Bloody Rose. He saw it a few feet away. _

_Blood had soaked his shirt the other young hunter dropped down beside him, wide-eyed in fear. "Oh my God! Kiriyu, I'm sorry, I-I didn't... I mean... these bullets don't usually hurt..." he stopped, realizing he was making things worse. Of course it would have done no harm if he'd accidentally shot one of the other hunters with the anti-vampire bullets. But it had obviously harmed Zero quite seriously. _

_"KIO!" Zero shouted a warning as a dark figure sprang from the darkness, aiming for the younger boy's unprotected back. Kio spun, bringing his gun back up and managing to fire once before the vampire slammed into him and took him to the ground. This was also not a Level E, and once was not enough. Claws dug into the boy's chest and razor fangs went straight for his neck. _

_Two loud bangs sounded harshly amid the growls and cries and suddenly, the vampire's weight was gone as he dissolved into dust upon Kio's clothing. Kio's wild gaze found Zero standing over him, wavering slightly on his feet, Bloody Rose gripped tightly in his good hand. _

_Zero collapsed back to his knees, the world a sick, nauseous swirl of shadows, at about the same time that Yagari and Kio's Sensei, Haru, ran onto the scene to find both their pupils bleeding. Yagari dropped quickly to his knees, catching Zero before the young man could topple to the earth. He was worried at first, but that quickly merged with outraged anger as he saw exactly what _kind _of injury the ex-human had sustained. No vampire had done that. _

_"Kio...!" Yagari's voice was dark, almost lethal, but Zero grabbed his sleeve with bloodied fingers, stopping him. He shook his head slightly. _

_"Accident," Zero murmured. "Close quarters fighting, not Kio's fault, it just happened." It __**was**_ _Kio's fault, but Zero had seen the younger boy trying so hard to prove himself to his master this trip... he knew that feeling. Besides, the last thing Zero wanted to do was create a fuss that centered around the fact that he was a vampire. The others already resented him enough. _

_Haru was helping Kio up, the boy was scratched up some, but not seriously hurt. Hearing Zero's words, Kio shot him a shocked and unbelievingly grateful look. He had obviously not expected so much grace. _

_Yagari didn't look like he entirely believed Zero's version of events, but he let it go, focusing instead on tending Zero and no more was said about the matter. _

_Kio, however, obviously feeling grateful, guilty and more kindly disposed towards the ex-human than previously, was not at all shy about telling the others how Zero had saved him, even to the point of exaggeration. It almost embarrassed Zero, but at the same time, he also started to feel some slow, but genuine acceptance from a few of the other hunters for the first time. _

...

Zero leaned into the curve as he sped quietly down the winding, almost completely empty country road. He'd abandoned the highway, which managed to have a little light traffic even at this hour, for the longer but more solitary back roads which better facilitated his desire to be alone with his thoughts.

By now, of course, that injury was nothing but a memory, yet it caused it's fair share of difficulties at the time. Although the incident gained him a friend in Kio and a little more respect from a couple of the others, it also had other, problematic consequences which alienated one or two of the other hunters even more. Hunters could feel it when a vampire was hungry. Zero had been away from Kaname for over three weeks at that point, and after taking an injury like that...

...

_Zero awoke with the sharp, familiar, terrible pain clawing inside his chest, his body drenched in a cold sweat. He gasped softly for air, curling into himself. _No, no, no!! _He pressed his eyes tightly shut, knowing the crimson pools of need they would be if they were opened. _This couldn't happen now, it _couldn't! He was in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by hunters... and he was going into blood lust._

_"Zero!" He flinched when hands found his shoulders, rolling him onto his back. His injured shoulder shocked pain through his body, making him whimper softly. It had been two days and it wasn't healing. He needed blood to heal. He had kept that need stubbornly under control thus far, but the strain was showing in his body. The wound was festering and he felt feverish. _

_"Zero!" Yagari's insistent voice finally dragged his eyes open and he blinked miserably up at the dark shape of his teacher leaning over him, trying not to sense the veins mapped out under the surface of his skin... trying not to look at his neck at all. _

_Yagari cursed softly when he saw the burning crimson in his student's gaze and felt the fever-heat of his skin. "We've got to get you out of here," he said quietly. _

...

Yagari had gotten Zero out of the camp before too many of the others awoke, but the dark, wary looks he got from the few who had told Zero that they would not be forgetting what he was any time soon.

Yagari took Zero to the nearest town and stayed with him, for everyone else's protection as much as his own, until Kaname arrived. Zero had been pretty out of it, he hadn't wanted Yagari to call Kaname, but fortunately for them all, the elder hunter had done so anyway.

The speedometer on Zero's bike was slowly inching higher and higher as his mind wandered idly over the events of the past few weeks, wondering where exactly along the way he had managed to start pushing Kaname away from him. He must have... because... because Kaname was just so _different _now then how he had been when he'd showed up at the little cockroach motel where Yagari had taken Zero, only a few short weeks ago.

Kaname had been in a state of intense concern that bordered on well contained panic when he'd arrived. He'd dropped everything and flown out immediately on his private jet, arriving barely three hours after Yagari's phone call. Zero wondered if Kaname had resented having to do that for him or something, but... he really didn't think so. Kaname certainly hadn't given that impression when he'd rushed past Yagari into the dingy little room and pulled Zero into his arms, caressing his fevered skin and almost in tears at the sight of his beloved injured like this and suffering so from blood lust. Yagari had cuffed Zero to the bed, obviously from necessity, but Kaname released them immediately with a flick of his mind and started stripping out of his shirt, heedless of even the fact that Yagari was still in the room with them.

The elder hunter had made his exit quickly, relieved at the knowledge that Zero was in good hands and would soon be all right again, but not particularly needing to see how exactly that was going to transpire. He may accept that Zero was a vampire, but he didn't necessarily want to see him latched onto Kuran's neck.

...

_"Kaname..." Zero's voice was pained and desperate... and so very, very hungry. Out of habit almost more than anything else, he was trying to resist his own needs, but he was trembling, his gaze fixed on the pale, perfect expanse of Kaname's bared chest and neck. _

_"Zero..." Kaname murmured tenderly, not at all afraid of the red in his eyes, not looking at him like the monster he had been treated as for the past few weeks. "Come to me, Zero..." he murmured, both tender and seductive as he caressed his lover's cheek. The pureblood knew well what the hunter needed and after all this horrible, torturous expanse of time they'd had to spend apart, he was almost literally aching to give it to him._

_Kaname arched his neck in invitation and Zero accepted with a soft, strangled groan of need, body slamming into Kaname's harder than he intended as he semi-pounced on the pureblood, pushing Kaname onto his back on the bed and burying his face against the side of his neck. He kissed Kaname's throat once, but his whole body was trembling and Zero could not make himself delay further before he sank his already aroused and painfully aching fangs into the supple flesh that was being so willingly offered to him. _

_Kaname groaned softly, but definitely not in pain. His fingers fisted in Zero's hair and he shivered under him as the hunter drank desperately from his neck. Zero's need was palpable and compelling. Kaname loved being needed like this, loved the way his very blood could become a part of Zero, a part of the one who owned his soul. _

_"I missed you so much, Zero," Kaname's soft, breathless whisper brushed the ex-human's ear as Zero continued to gulp desperately, lost in the beautiful ecstasy of drinking from this incredible man. Kaname's blood was made all the more sweet because it was full to overflowing with sensations of his love and desire for Zero. _

_Kaname wrapped his arms around Zero's body, holding him close as the ex-human knelt over him. "I wanted to find you, to follow you and make sure you were okay so many times..." Kaname's voice was almost trembling, as if they'd been apart for years instead of weeks. "I know you told me not to, and I didn't, Zero, I did as you asked. But... when Yagari called..." Kaname seemed to realize he was babbling and stopped talking, instead kissing Zero's neck and the side of his face intently while the other continued to drink. Kaname's breath was hitching slightly, although his fear and anguish was quickly turning into relief and hunger of a different kind as he was reassured by the strong and very alive feeling of Zero's body straddling his. _

"Zero's been hurt. He needs blood. Get out here."_ That had been about the extent of Yagari's phone call. The fact that he knew Kaname would come pleased the pureblood after the fact, but at the time the pureblood's heart and world had pretty much stopped at the "Zero's been hurt" part. _

_Zero stopped drinking for a moment, carefully disengaging long enough to kiss Kaname tenderly on the mouth. The ex-human was still softly trembling with need, but he caressed his lover's lips gently for a long moment before he went back to his neck and slid his fangs in again. _

_Kaname sighed in contentment at the kiss, his body reacting to the taste of blood on Zero's lips, even if it was his own. He rocked up against Zero as the ex-human drank, Zero's mouth and tongue wringing delight from his sensitive body. _

_Zero needed a lot of blood and Kaname was deliciously weak and light headed by the time he was done, not to mention so aroused that he could barely stand it. He'd been craving Zero's touch for weeks and being so close to him now was heaven. Already fully recovered from his injuries, Zero felt much the same way himself, except for the weak part. Kaname's blood always made him feel powerful, uninhibited and playful. _

_Zero lightly pinned Kaname's wrists above his head as they exchanged increasingly heated and passionate kisses, bodies pressing urgently against one another with the fervor of lovers who had been too long apart... even if it really wasn't that long. _

_Kaname's eyes widened in surprise and heated appreciation when he felt the cool metal of the hunter cuffs that had held Zero to the bed when he first arrived fit snuggly around his own wrists as Zero snapped them closed. The hunter kissed the pureblood's stomach slowly while easing the pureblood's pants down off his hips. Kaname could have freed himself if he wanted to, but with Zero giving him that amazing, impassioned look as he slid between his legs, why on _earth _would he want to do that? _

_Zero took Kaname in his mouth, pleasuring his lover and prepping him at the same time until the pureblood came hard with muffled cries of ecstasy. As Kaname shuddered through the last throws of climax, Zero pushed into him, holding Kaname's knees and bending down to kiss the cuffed pureblood's beautiful, gasping, keening lips as he pumped into him, eventually wringing another orgasm from his partner before finding blissful release himself as well. _

...

The memories were making Zero hard, his body flushing with heat that made riding his bike uncomfortable and his speed increased. His enhanced eyesight and reflexes made it perfectly safe for him to drive this fast on the dark, unlit roads. Kaname's driving used to give him a heart attack, but as he let himself trust his enhanced senses more and more, he was starting to understand the thrill it could be.

Kaname had been absolutely amazing that night. They'd made love several more times over the next couple hours in that little hotel room, until they both had their fill of each other and were too exhausted to continue. After a few snatched hours of sleep, Yagari had awakened them, saying that he and Zero needed to return to camp before their absence could become a problem or jeopardize the mission.

The elder hunter had apparently not considered what other _activities_ might be likely to follow blood drinking or he might not have simply walked in on them. But now that he was aware of their relationship and feelings for one another, he managed to at least act supremely unperturbed at finding the pureblood and his pupil both curled up naked in the bed, one of Kaname's wrists still caught in the cuffs.

Zero scowled slightly. Okay, _that _had been kind of embarrassing. His Sensei being quite that familiar with his sex life was not something the young man was entirely comfortable with, but what the hell... people who understood and accepted him, not to mention his relationship with Kaname, were few and far between.

Kaname hadn't wanted to let him go. Zero could tell it had been an intense struggle for the pureblood to let him go back to the very mission on which he'd been hurt, and to the people who had hurt him. The pureblood had been incensed earlier, after their lovemaking, when he'd wormed out of Zero a confession of how he'd been injured and that things were not exactly going smoothly.

...

_"They are idiots! Complete morons! You should show them your power, Zero," Kaname said firmly, pain and frustration on Zero's behalf clear in his eyes. "They should see how strong you are, and they would not treat you so shamefully. Hunters are not so different from vampires in this way, they respect the strong and the powerful rule." _

_Zero shook his head quickly, his eyes troubled. Kaname was right, but... "No, I don't want to do that. They think I'm enough of a freak as it is." No one knew the real extent of his powers yet except for Kaname and Yagari and he wanted to keep it that way. "Besides, if I let them know, it's only a matter of time until the vampires find out as well, and I thought we didn't want that to happen right away?" _

_Kaname frowned, it was true, he and Zero had decided it was best to keep Zero's abilities from the vampire world for the present, but Kaname just _hated _to see anyone not treating his lover right. Vampires he could punish for this offense, he could make them obey... but he was powerless to do so with the hunters and that frustrated him deeply. _

_Kaname wound his fingers into Zero's hair, pulling the silver head back down to his chest. "Don't go back to them," he murmured. "They don't deserve you. Come home with me, Zero. I miss you..." the whisper was soft and it seemed Kaname already knew what answer he would receive. _

_"I have to go back, Kaname," Zero murmured, lulled by the sound of his lover's strong heartbeat under his ear. "You know that. If I leave now, I might as well give up on being a hunter all together." _

_"And that would be so bad?" the whisper under his ear was faint, but Zero tensed. Kaname seemed to regret his words and his fingers tightened in Zero's hair, drawing his head up so the pureblood could kiss him softly. "Forget I said that. I know what this means to you, Zero. I just miss you and... worry about you." _

_Zero kissed him back, relaxing again. "I'll be fine, I promise. Kaname... this is what I am. Neither of us can stop being what we are," he whispered faintly as he laid his head back down on the pureblood's shoulder again. "I knew it wasn't going to be easy, it will take time for them to trust me, but I can do this, Kaname, I __**can**_._"_

_Kaname kissed his hair. "I know you can, Zero."_

...

It had been hard to leave Kaname and go back to the mission, back to the other hunters and their dark, suspicious looks at the way he had so suddenly healed of his injuries and seemed so much stronger and brighter in their senses. They weren't stupid, they knew he had fed and they knew Yagari had had some hand in it, although a distinct lack of bite marks put to rest any scandalous notions that he might have been the donor. Only their respect and rightfully placed fear of Yagari kept them from leveling any accusations. They had to believe the elder hunter would not have let a vampire feed on just anyone, even if that vampire was his apprentice.

It had been another long three weeks or so before the mission was finally over and although Zero was in perfect health, he had felt mentally and emotionally drained by the time he returned. But... the Kaname he returned to last week was not the Kaname he had left, nor the one who had spent those amazing few hours with him in a hotel on the backside of nowhere.

Zero couldn't explain it, but Kaname was... different. Their bond was silent between them, in the way it tended to be when Kaname shut him out. Zero drank his blood, but... he felt nothing in it. Kaname looked and acted like everything was all right, except for being busy as hell, but... Zero felt like he was being kept at arm's length for some reason. It was not the kind of welcome he'd expected after how desperately Kaname had obviously missed him before. Now it was like... like Kaname was strangely indifferent to his presence. Zero thought he was just imagining it at first, but the strange way Kaname had acted after that dream of his, coupled with being blown off again for lunch was starting to tip the scales.

The ache in Zero's chest was increasing, along with his speed. The bike flew down the curvy road at far past the posted limits. He was taking the turns much faster than was entirely safe, even with his enhanced senses and reflexes.

_Was... was Kaname angry with him, because he hadn't left with him when the pureblood asked him to? He'd thought Kaname understood, but..._ Zero gulped a deep breath of the cold night air, throwing the bike into another turn that leaned it near horizontal, his knee all but scraping the pavement.

He was making too much out of this, he told himself. He wasn't usually this neurotic. Maybe it was just the sudden change in pace from being at work and on guard 24/7 while in the field to now suddenly having nothing to do and nowhere to expend his energy that was making him so temperamental and overly emotional.

Inactivity did not sit well with him after all, and the world was being inconveniently peaceful. There was no one on the execution lists in this area right now, he wasn't likely to be sent on another mission abroad for quite some time and without Yagari around to ride him constantly there was only so much time he could spend training on his own. All of which, combined with the fact that Kaname was gone almost all the time and had been too busy, too tired or too stressed the past week or so to do more than just cuddle whenever he actually _was _home, was not putting the hunter into a very overall good mood. Hell, Kaname seemed to find even his _dreams _more interesting than Zero, lately.

Zero caught himself, his cheeks feeling warm despite the cool night air whipping past him. No way. He had _not _just thought that. He was _not _going to get moody just because Kaname was actually acting like a sort of normal person for once and not trying to jump him every time they were alone. Oh no. After all the times he'd pulled the "insatiable twit" line on his lover, he was _not _about to start complaining when Kaname actually backed off and acted like maybe there were possibly other things in the world besides sex. Even if it made Zero wonder what he was doing wrong. Made him wonder if Kaname was getting interested in something or someone else, especially after that dream... but no, that was ridiculous. What he and Kaname had, it went too deep to worry about things like that, right?

He pushed the bike faster still, his heart rate accelerating as he pushed the edge of his ability to control the vehicle, creating an excuse for the heat that was throbbing through his body because of his current train of thought. _Stop it. This is so embarrassing, just stop._ Except that it wasn't an embarrassed kind of heat. He _missed _Kaname, damn it! Zero slammed through another turn, the momentum swinging him off onto the shoulder so his wheels spit gravel, straining for purchase for a moment before they caught again and careened back onto the roadway. His eyes watered slightly from the force of the wind that his speed created. Yes, only from the wind.

He was just bored, that was all. He was used to a much more physically demanding routine. Maybe he needed to start putting in more time training, or at the gym. Yes. That was it. Yagari would kick his butt if he saw the way he'd been slacking since they separated. He needed to be more active. Then maybe he wouldn't keep feeling like he wanted to pick a fight with the first person who gave him an excuse, or driving too fast, or imagining that something was wrong with Kaname when the pureblood was just busy, or... or feeling so stupidly... _stupid _like he did now.

Zero heard a siren and saw flashing lights swing onto the road behind him. _Oh. Crap. _

For half a second, he considered gunning it and going cross-country where the police car couldn't follow... but there were farms with newly plowed fields and houses with little kids around here. Even if it was the middle of the night and no one was likely to be up... Zero didn't feel like compounding a bad day by doing something stupid that could hurt other people or their property.

Sighing, the young hunter braked slowly, pulling off to the side of the road as the car pulled up behind him. Zero smiled with mirthless irony in the darkness. Speeding and no helmet. Yeah, things were just _so_ going his way tonight.


	4. Questions of Desire

_A/N: LOL! For everyone who was wondering, no, Zero didn't get arrested, although he came close to it... but more on that later in the chapter. ;D Oh, and for the life of me I can't remember if I already gave Night Haven a different name, but if I did I can't remember and can't find where it was, so just ignore my early Alzheimer's. I'm really tired and posting this early because I'm going to be away over the weekend, so I apologize if it's less proofed than usual. _

_Individual review responses are in my forum, as usual. Link to them is in my bio. _

**Chapter Four: "Questions of Desire"**

Grey dawn was starting to lighten the edges of the horizon beyond the trees that blanketed the eastern portion of the Kuran / Kiriyu estate. Kaname had aptly, and somewhat ironically named their villa and the surrounding lands _Night Haven_ because he said it was their sanctuary where they didn't have to hide and the world wasn't allowed. It was a bit of a drive from the city where Kaname worked. The pureblood had an apartment in town that he sometimes used as well, but Kaname liked his privacy and preferred to stay at Night Haven, especially when Zero was around.

Zero preferred it too. Kaname's penthouse was great, but he couldn't help thinking of this place as _home_. Maybe because it was the place Kaname had gotten specifically for the two of them and so many of their happy memories had been made here over the last few years. Half of Night Haven was technically Zero's. Kaname had made sure that everything was jointly in their names. He hadn't had to do that of course, but he'd insisted.

_Speaking of Kaname..._

Zero got up from his spot on the couch in front of the TV when he sensed Kaname walking up the path to the house. It was pretty late. Well... early, actually, which meant late in vampire terms. He'd made sure the serving staff had retired at their accustomed time, preferring to have the house to himself while he waited. He'd been beginning to wonder if Kaname was even going to come home at all.

The pureblood drew to a slight halt when Zero opened the door before he could reach for it. The hunter usually only came to the door to greet him when he was either eager to see him, or when he was pissed. Kaname had a sinking feeling it was the latter and he couldn't blame his lover one bit.

Mutely, Kaname proffered the box of double-dark chocolates he was carrying as an obvious apology gift. over 60% cacao, they were handmade by one of the local confectionaries and Kaname knew it was a favorite. Zero didn't have much of a sweet tooth, but he did seem to enjoy the more bitter tang of dark chocolate. Kaname had observed that he had a definite for this brand in particular.

Zero accepted the box, a faint hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his lips despite himself. In spite of what Kaname may think, Zero hadn't come to greet him because he was upset. He just... he wanted to see Kaname. Deep down, the truth behind his frustration and irritation was that he just plain missed the pureblood. He'd been away so long and he ached to simply be near him.

After having most of the day to think about it, he'd decided it wasn't fair of him to hold Kaname's busyness and preoccupation against him now when it was _Zero's_ _job_ that had kept them apart for almost two months previously. Kaname had asked him to leave, but hadn't otherwise complained, so Zero really had no right to be upset over a few missed meals and some long hours. He should feel guilty for even letting it bother him.

The hunter had already decided that he was going to just put those feelings behind him, but even if he hadn't the tired, sorry, somewhat apprehensive and yet hopeful look on Kaname's face as he stood on the doorstep probably would have melted him anyway. Kaname could look like such a damn puppy sometimes, and he loved this man so much it hurt.

That was not to say, however, that Zero was above taking the chocolates. They were really good after all, and the scent told him Kaname had gotten the orange flavored ones, which were the best. Zero stepped back, waiting for Kaname to enter. "Well? The sun's coming up you know."

Kaname smiled faintly and entered, shutting the door behind him. He could hear that the television was on in the living room, playing the morning news.

"I made you dinner," the hunter said quietly. "I didn't know when you'd be back, so I've got it in the fridge, I'll pull it out and heat it up while you change," he offered. Looking away, Zero slid the top from the chocolate box and took a bite off the edge of one of the dark, flat squares. It had no filling, but the chocolate itself was infused with a tangy citrus flavor. He chewed, seeking distraction. He always felt like he should feel uncomfortably domestic at moments like these, but he didn't. Actually, it felt all too comfortable. He _liked_ cooking for and taking care of Kaname and that did _not _make him at all girly. Half the chefs on TV were guys. So there.

Kaname looked touched and perhaps even more guilty. "I left you messages," the pureblood said softly. "Did you get them?" He set his briefcase down on the small foyer table and shrugged out of his suit coat.

Zero had, all six of them. Two from Seiren - the first saying that Kaname was stuck on an overseas phone call and would be late, the second also from her saying that Kaname was still stuck and was not going to be able to make it. Then there were four increasingly remorseful messages from Kaname himself afterwards, apologizing and asking Zero to call him back.

"After I came home," Zero acknowledged. He shrugged ruefully, a little apologetic himself. "I forgot my phone."

Kaname's eyes darkened slightly, registering a bit of surprise and then regret. "Oh... I'm sorry. I would have called the restaurant if I knew that. I thought..." his fingers played with the lapel of his suit coat as he held it over his arm. "I thought you just didn't want to talk to me." He cleared his throat quickly and draped the suit coat over the edge of the table. "I hope you didn't wait too long?"

Zero shrugged again, finishing the piece of chocolate and licking his fingertips lightly. He set the box down on the table beside Kaname's coat. "About an hour. Pissed off a nice gaggle of aristocratic blood suckers." His lips quirked a little more.

Kaname looked truly stricken as he realized how long Zero had waited for him in what must have become a fairly hostile atmosphere. "Zero, I'm sorry, truly. Representatives from Trifecta called and I had to talk with them... if it had been anyone else..." his eyes flashed slightly both in remorse and frustration. He would _much _rather have spent lunch with Zero. Damn these stupid people and their stupid maneuverings and this whole stupid mess!

Zero leaned in and kissed Kaname lightly and unexpectedly. For half an unforgiveable moment, Kaname actually tensed, a cold tendril that had _never _been there before shooting down his spine. Quickly, the pureblood forced it down, allowing a welcome thrill of surprise and warmth to take its place. If Zero was kissing him then he probably wasn't too upset after all, and that was quite a relief. He responded slowly, parting his lips as Zero's tongue caressed him. The hunter tasted like dark chocolate and oranges; he was delicious in more ways than one.

Kaname leaned into Zero, hands sliding to his shoulders as the kiss deepened and Kaname started becoming a lot more than just _relieved_. The pureblood pushed the hunter up against the wall, tipping his head and delving deeper into the warm mouth with a soft, shuddering intake of breath. There was certainly no mistaking the elder vampire's interest in his partner _now _and Zero pulled him close, feeling familiar and welcome heat bubble up inside him as Kaname pressed his back firmly into the wall, their bodies brushing lightly together.

Long pale fingers tangled in Kaname's dark tresses as the kissing turned passionate and they started sucking the breath from one another's bodies. For once, the hunter didn't really care where they were. They could do it right here and he was just fine with that, so long as he could touch Kaname... could be close to him, could feel like he was being let into that place in Kaname's soul where nothing but the two of them existed.

It was silly of him to feel insecure. He knew that Kaname loved him and - as unbelievable as it was - he probably always would. Zero felt the same. Spending the rest of his life with Kaname was starting to become something of a given in his mind, and it was a surprisingly comfortable one.

It was just that, what with the way Kaname had been acting, he had been left to assume that either Kaname was upset with him, or that perhaps familiarity and predictability were merely taking their inevitable toll. Which was understandable, perhaps even natural in the course of any long term relationship, but still surprisingly disheartening. Kaname had spoiled him rotten and he knew it. He hadn't realized just how accustomed he had become to Kaname being almost annoyingly crazy about him until... well... until he wasn't anymore, and Zero suddenly realized it hadn't been so terribly annoying after all.

Zero kissed his lover hungrily, passionately, as if he could pull the pureblood into him. He wanted... _needed _Kaname to love him with the kind of desire that they'd had that one night almost a month ago. Whether he'd admit it or not, he was still a little raw inside from dealing with the other hunters and he craved the way Kaname's love and his passion made him feel whole.

Kaname lost himself in the kiss, forgetting his initial fears and reveling in the heat of Zero's mouth and the feel of his body pinned against him. It was so easy to just not think of anything when he was with Zero like this. It was a balm his soul badly needed, one he had been denying himself for far too long. He'd missed Zero desperately when he was gone, missed him so utterly desperately it had been pathetic. Maybe that was even part of why it had hit him so hard when the situation with Orion blew up right before Zero came home - his emotional reserves had already been at a low ebb.

Kaname explored Zero's moist heat, soaking up the hunter's taste. His hands traversed the flat skin of Zero's stomach, under the hem of the long sleeved tee he was wearing. Kaname's body trembled with desire as Zero moaned against his lips. _Oh God... he wanted him so much. _He brushed his tongue across Zero's fangs, teasing him and feeling their sharpness as they started to lengthen a little in response...

_White fangs, smiling at him. Their hard, sharp points scratching his gums as they were forced into his mouth, swallowing his screams... _

Kaname felt cold all over and jerked very slightly when Zero's teeth brushed his gums. Zero was still kissing him but for half a second, it hadn't been Zero, and that both terrified and infuriated him. This was what he feared... that he would touch Zero, and not see him. Maybe it was his very fear that made it so, but even if that was the case there was little he could do about it. He... he couldn't do this. It wasn't fair to Zero either. Kaname was a basket case right now and his lover shouldn't have to put up with that. Kaname should _never_ see anyone but the hunter when he touched him. He felt very guilty, and very soiled.

Kaname found himself breathing hard. He tried to gently pull his head away, but Zero wouldn't let him go. The hunter was far too aroused and far too hungry for his lover. The thought that Kaname might be trying to actually disengage didn't even cross his mind. He thought Kaname was just shifting and he followed him, kissing him heatedly, his hands stroking his lover's neck and shoulders. Kaname's hands had left his stomach and he felt the loss sharply as the pureblood's body also started to ease away.

Following naturally, Zero used the shift to reverse their positions, turning them swiftly so Kaname's back was now pinned against the wall as they kissed. His breath shuddered against the pureblood's moist lips, his chest hitching almost unbearably with the weight of his love and desire. He rocked his hips against Kaname, pressing him into the wall.

Zero did not realize that Kaname's trembling was no longer from arousal. He kissed with closed eyes and did not see the fear that momentarily darkened the pureblood's gaze before it was quickly locked away once more. Kaname's heart pounded harshly at being pursed and restrained, even though he was quite aware that he was far from helpless and Zero would never want to hurt him. It was a stupid, _stupid, _totally unforgivable reaction that he couldn't seem to suppress or control. The pureblood hated himself completely.

Kaname's hands slid to Zero's shoulders, holding on as he fought with everything he had not to thrust Zero violently away from him. The pain and confusion inside him was intense, but he desperately did not want to impart that to Zero. The hunter would be so hurt if he pushed him away, how could he not be? Not to mention that Kaname would seem like a complete head case.

This wasn't Zero's fault, it was his own and Kaname fought to control himself and get back into the moment. Inside, he wanted to cry from frustration. Even if he could manage to keep going through the motions, he feared he was doing his lover a great disservice. Zero was good, and innocent... and it wasn't fair to taint him with every kiss, with every touch, and that was exactly what Kaname felt like he was doing. He'd tried to avoid Zero without being too obvious about it the past few days. Right now, intimacy cropped up a whole slew of demons Kaname didn't want to deal with and actually made his palms feel clammy. But that was totally stupid, right? He could get past this... he _needed _to get past this.

Kaname forced himself to kiss back as if nothing was wrong, waiting to feel the response he should be feeling, willing himself to see Zero and only Zero. His stomach was in knots, his emotions roiling. Trying to force himself to feel aroused when fear and unease were his primary emotions was not a wise idea. Given Kaname's history, it was perhaps a very dangerous idea. The pureblood was not in a stable state and some of the dark tethers inside him suddenly seemed to slide free. Zero's finger's firmly messaged his bite area and Kaname did feel surge of sensation and desire finally... but it was not the kind he wanted.

A dark, vicious lust dug its claws into Kaname's stomach with a sudden, unexpected harshness that made him gasp. It was not the kind of yearning he usually felt for his lover, not even the darker desire they sometimes played with in their more rough and vampiric moments. This was something much blacker and more cruel. Something that was strangely familiar, and yet foreign. Something that hungered only for pain, blood and fear. He found himself wanting to throw Zero down and tear him open, to take him again and again until the hunter screamed and begged for mercy. To give only pain, not pleasure. His senses throbbed with a purely bestial drive to possess, to plunder, to rend, to lay open flesh and taste the bitter tears and mortality of the object you desired. To savor that object's screams as you carved yourself into their body and filled them with all that they could taken and then more.

Kaname's fangs engaged. They nicked Zero's tongue and the inside of his mouth, drawing blood. Zero had no objections, it was a frequent occurrence and he sucked Kaname's tongue, intentionally imparting the taste of his blood. He had no idea the dangerous line they were now walking.

The coppery flavor of Zero, mingled with the dark fever trying to grip him jolted Kaname harshly. He was suddenly assaulted with bloody, seductive mental images of Zero torn and bleeding, lying on the floor, broken, fearful, pleading for it to end...

_You don't know the true beauty of a thing until you've seen what it looks like completely broken and made raw for you, are you too young to understand that, Kaname? You will someday..._

Kaname's stomach lurched. His heart pounded deafeningly in his ears. The words were familiar, but not familiar. He knew the voice that spoke them, but could not recall having heard them spoken. Utter dread and self-loathing filled him as he was torn between twisted arousal and heart-rending horror at the dreadfulness which his mind was conjuring for him. It was like being stuck in his nightmare again, only somehow Zero had been pulled into it now, and Kaname could never forgive himself for that.

_No... NO! This was not him, not what he desired! It couldn't be. It __**couldn't **__be! He could not hurt Zero. He didn't want to, not like that. He desired Zero's passion and his pleasure and his love, not his subjugation and fear, not... not seeing him like_ that_. It wasn't what he wanted! NEVER! _He couldn't believe the desire was even _there_, it made him sick. The intense revulsion and illness he felt at the mental images was strong enough to snap him out of the hazy fervor.

Kaname was hyperventilating.

Zero groaned softly, a faint note of pain entering the sound now. Kaname was gripping his shoulders so tightly it was starting to bruise.

With monumental effort, Kaname regained control, his breath coming raggedly, pulse pounding in his temples like the start of the world's worst migraine. He quickly eased his grip on Zero's arms as he forced the kiss to become gentler. He wasn't aroused anymore, he felt far too sick, too confused... too scared. What he had wanted to do, what he had felt horribly close to doing, and the mere fact that he had wanted it, terrified him.

Tenderly, he caressed Zero's swollen lips, fingers lightly brushing his bruised shoulders. _He should have known better. He was feeling too unbalanced. There was too much wrong in him, too much darkness... he could not expose his beloved to that. It was too dangerous. He could not hurt Zero. He could never let those images in his mind come to be. He could never for a moment let himself take any kind of pleasure in them. He would rather die. _

Gently but firmly this time, Kaname eased out of the kiss. He caressed Zero's mouth and jaw with his lips tenderly as he interjected a little space between them once more, not leaving any ambiguity about his intentions to withdraw. He tried to be matter-of-fact about it, he didn't want Zero to think there was anything wrong if it could be helped. He ached for his lover badly… but he was too confused and far too afraid to touch him further just now.

"Dinner would be great, thank you, Zero," Kaname murmured, his voice husky as he cupped the hunter's flushed cheek. Zero's eyes were glazed and somewhat surprised. He blinked as if not quite able to follow the shift in course. Fangs showed between his semi-parted, enticingly flushed lips and Kaname had to quickly look away before his gaze was drawn there, before his resolve started to crumble and he crossed too close to the unforgiveable.

Zero felt at a loss, he didn't to understand why the pureblood was pulling away and he was extremely reluctant to release him. He rocked his hips against Kaname again, slowly, almost questioningly. It was only then that Zero realized, much to his humiliation, that he was the only one of them who was aroused.

Embarrassment and uncertainty brought him up short, kindling a sickly heat that flamed in his cheeks. It was kind of unnerving to realize he was alone in his feelings, especially after all that intense making out. _Oh crap, was Kaname just... just _humoring_ him? _Quickly, Zero released the pureblood and backed off, letting Kaname move away from the wall. _Crap, crap, crap... _he must seem so pathetically desperate. He ought to say something, but all the blood required for thought currently seemed to be _elsewhere_ and he knew if he opened his mouth he was just going to start babbling and humiliate himself further.

Zero was so damn attractive, so incredibly alluring when he was aroused and uncertain and Kaname could see his confusion. He could see that even though it was the very last thing he wanted, he'd still managed to hurt his lover. The pain cut him deep, but he didn't know what else he could do. He ached to sooth that look off of Zero's face. Kaname felt like something inside him was stretched painfully taught, like a rubber band drawn almost to the breaking point. It was physically hard for him to not pull the hunter back into his arms immediately. Only the resolve drawn from his intense love for Zero enabled him to pull away and retrieve his suit coat and briefcase from the table. He couldn't trust himself, and he couldn't take chances. Not with Zero.

"I'll change and be right down," he murmured, his gaze trailing Zero's face almost wistfully for a moment before he withdrew, heading down the hall and up the stairs towards the bedroom.

Zero was left standing in the foyer alone, blinking in shock. He was flushed, breathing rapidly, painfully aroused and just as painfully confused. What, was all that about? Kaname wasn't in the mood? Kaname was _always _in the mood for crying out loud! He'd been ready to think he was imagining everything a few minutes ago… but there was no mistaking it really, was there? Even if Kaname was upset with him, that had never effected his desire before, never made it so that Kaname was totally unaffected by Zero's kisses. The only possible explanation was that Kaname didn't…. didn't really want him. At least, not right now. Zero knew his lover far too well, and if Kaname wanted something he got it, especially when it was being very willingly offered.

The hunter leaned on the table beside him, his hands curling to fists on the polished surface, his lungs aching, curiously devoid of air. He felt like such a prize idiot, acting like he had. The thought that Kaname had perhaps responded just because he felt _sorry _for his lover or wanted to make him happy was mortifying. Maybe it shouldn't be, maybe for other couples that was in fact completely normal, but Zero was simply so used to having his feelings reciprocated... he didn't know how to react.

As the surprise started to dull, however, he quickly started becoming angry with himself for being so stupid about all this. Kaname just didn't feel like it, what was the big freaking deal? It was merely a fact. He didn't always feel like it either. _Stop acting like a petulant child who isn't getting enough attention! Seriously, have you _no _self respect?! _

Apparently he didn't, because he kept replaying the last few minutes in his mind and trying to figure out what he'd done wrong. It usually took very little to get Kaname turned on, the pureblood was normally so responsive to him. Maybe... maybe he counted on that too much. Maybe his absence had somehow changed things. Ichiru used to be like this sometimes, when they were young. He would cling to Zero and act like his whole world revolved around him... but then at times he would pull away or be unexpectedly cruel. Zero had loved his brother, and even after all this time the dynamic of their relationship had left more of a mark on his psyche than he completely realized. He wondered if there was something flawed in him that made people act this way. The bitter truth, of course, was that his brother had hated him.

Zero swallowed slowly, forcing those useless thoughts away. Kaname didn't, though. Kaname loved him, Zero knew that. But Zero also knew he wasn't always the easiest person to be with. If anyone was going to put the brakes on, it was usually him. Maybe Kaname was tired of putting up with his crap and doing so much of the pursuing in their relationship. Maybe Zero needed to put a little more effort into it and make sure Kaname knew that he was loved and desired, very much.

_Or __**maybe **__Zero needed to stop freaking __**thinking too much**__ and just get Kaname his food... _smiling mirthlessly at himself, Zero pushed away from the table and headed for the kitchen. Geez, what was _with _him? When had he become so hopelessly neurotic and started over-analyzing every little thing? It was irritating as hell._ Stop reading something into nothing. _

----------------------------------

Upstairs, Kaname was tearing through his bathroom cabinet with trembling fingers, careful to keep their bond tightly closed off on his end, as usual lately, so Zero would not sense his feelings. He found his now seldom-used bottle of blood tablets and quickly downed almost all of them, chewing and swallowing the chalky pills with handfuls of water scooped from the tap, heedless of the bitter taste.

Control. He needed control. Emotional turmoil tended to stimulate a vampire's need for blood, and that was an urge that was completely _not _helpful right now. The thoughts he'd had about Zero were still terrifying the hell out of him.

Sure, sometimes he had the natural vampiric urge to revel in Zero's blood or push them both well out along that fine line between pain and ecstasy. There was no denying he liked to hear his lover scream and beg... but from _pleasure. _He liked to hear him beg for _more, _not for mercy_. _It came from his desire to _love _Zero, not to _hurt _him. Therein lay the difference. For Kaname, anything enjoyable with Zero was always about love. He'd never felt like he wanted to _destroy _Zero before, not like this. His heart was still pounding. The only thing keeping him from clawing into his despicable, dirty, corrupted flesh and tearing as deep as he could to punish himself and drive the horrible, haunting images away was that Zero would smell his blood.

Kaname was running on empty after the past few days. His control was low and that was apparently dangerous. He needed to force himself to be calm and he couldn't. What could he do? He couldn't go back downstairs and act like everything was fine in his current state. But after missing lunch today, Kaname knew he would hurt and offend Zero deeply if he left him hanging again now and just went to bed after saying he'd be back down.

Kaname breathed deeply. He was a master of masks, and he could do this. He could try to make sure that his own stupid failings hurt Zero as little as possible. But... how could he possibly relax and let himself go near Zero again tonight? He needed some kind of insurance that he wouldn't vamp out all over again if Zero tried to get close to him.

In the back of the cabinet, he found a bottle of powerful, vampire grade sedatives. He'd gotten them to see if they could help him sleep when the nightmares had started, but had taken them only once because he found they induced an uncomfortable dulling of his senses and put him into a sleepy state he couldn't control. That was the idea, of course, but it made him feel vulnerable and he didn't like it.

They were insurance, though. If he took these, he could be certain he wouldn't hurt Zero, because he wasn't going to be awake for more than an hour or so. The bottle warned of some mild side effects, including severely reduced sexual function and Kaname grinned bitterly. Yeah, like he needed any more help being dysfunctional right now. But given his current fears, that too, was probably a good thing.

Kaname popped several of the pills and washed them down with another handful of water.

----------------------------------

Kaname was upstairs for a long time. By the time he came down again, Zero had already heated the food and retreated to the living room again, curled up watching TV and eating his chocolates. Kaname's food was set out along with silverware, napkin and a glass of wine on the coffee table in front of the couch. The presentation was inviting and cozy, despite the location. If Kaname wanted to go eat in the dining room, he could take it in there himself. Zero was kind of hoping Kaname would choose to stay with him.

Kaname did. He slid down on the couch next to Zero, giving his lover a kiss on the cheek and eyeing the food appreciatively. "Thank you, it looks great," he said quietly. He knew he was probably confusing Zero with the mixed messages he was sending, but he wasn't sure how to fix things. He appreciated that Zero seemed to be so easy going and patient with him. He smiled at the other vampire. "I don't deserve you."

Zero grinned a little. "Darn right," he teased, but it was obvious he didn't mean it and just to make sure it was clear, he gave Kaname's thigh a little squeeze, his eyes gentle and filled with a soft, barely hidden longing. "Thanks for these," he said, lifting the half empty chocolate box a little. "Maybe you should miss lunch more often."

It was a joke, intended to make Kaname smile and it worked. The pureblood seemed a little more at ease and he and Zero sat in comfortable silence together while Kaname ate and Zero watched the end of the news before flipping to a sports station.

Kaname felt so comfortable with Zero like this, it felt so right to be near him... it was worth the sacrifice of having to fight with himself. Just being in the same room with Zero made his whole evening worthwhile.

After he finished eating, Kaname leaned back against the couch cushions and rested his head on Zero's shoulder. The hunter seemed momentarily surprised, but only too happy to wrap his arm around Kaname's shoulders. They watched the sporting event on TV together for a little while.

"I can tell you who's going to win," Kaname murmured after a few minutes.

Zero grinned a little. Kaname had an unerring knack for making accurate guesses halfway through a game. "Oh? Your super deductive pureblood reasoning enlightening you already?" he teased. "It's only just started."

Kaname smiled against his shoulder. "No, this is a replay from yesterday, I heard the scores on the radio earlier."

Zero chuckled, the sound rumbling pleasantly under Kaname's ear. "Okay, well don't tell me. It's more fun if I don't know."

"Zero, I... I know I haven't been very pleasant to live with since you came back. I'm sorry," Kaname whispered after a few moments, when the game cut away to a commercial break. "Be patient with me a little longer, it will get better. When this whole situation is over, let's go away somewhere, just the two of us," he murmured, turning his face in against Zero's neck and contentedly inhaling his scent.

Zero nuzzled him in return, unable to keep his heart rate from rising and his still fairly keyed up body from responding to his lover's nearness as Kaname's eyelashes brushed unintentional butterfly kisses against his throat. Kaname's words and the comfortable togetherness they had shared the past half hour or so soothed him. He continued trying to convince himself that Kaname was just tired, distracted and stressed. "Sounds good," he murmured back. "As long as you promise not to bring your phone." The hunter felt Kaname smile against his skin.

"Promise." The pureblood's words vibrated against his neck and Zero shivered slightly.

"Want some chocolate?" Zero offered after a small pause. "It's really good..." there was a playful note of temptation in his voice, so Kaname agreed.

"Sure..." the pureblood lifted his head to find Zero offering him a square of the flat chocolate... held between the hunter's teeth.

Zero's attempt at a seductive smile looked adorably hesitant and his cheeks were a little pink. The look in his eyes melted Kaname like a piece of said chocolate on a hot summer's day. Despite knowing what a bad idea it was, the pureblood straightened, kneeling sideways on the couch so he could lean in and take the exposed half of the chocolate in his mouth, his lips softly brushing Zero's as he did.

It was too easy for him to be instinctively sensual, too easy for him to respond to Zero like he very much wanted to do. Kaname's agile tongue ran along the chocolate connecting them, brushing Zero's lips in the process and acquiring the flavor of both.

Zero's hand tightened in Kaname's sleeve and he gave a small, but firm tug, pulling Kaname off balance enough that he would be forced to shift in the desired direction. Kaname tensed slightly, but did not resist, allowing Zero to pull him onto the hunter's lap. He knelt over Zero's thighs, sitting lightly on his knees, Kaname's own knees pressed against the back of the couch on either side of Zero's hips. It was actually a very comfortable position and judging by the deep intake of breath and pleased response on Zero's part, a very suggestive one.

Kaname, however, felt a flash of vulnerability at being spread over Zero like this. It did not belong to this very sweet and very private moment and he resented it like an intruder, shoving it away and willingly rocking against Zero to try and get his body to forget things it should never remember. It was obvious Zero wanted more. He could do this. He could already feel the drugs in his system starting to slowly creep up on him, so Zero was safe. Kaname doubted that even _he_ could vamp out while heavily sedated. Now if only he could stay awake long enough...

Zero leaned forward a little, meeting Kaname's lips around the chocolate, their moist tongues darting in and out, mating with one another around the melting square that colored their taste buds and painted the kiss in a deep, chocolatey kind of bliss. Kaname's graceful fingers caressed Zero's neck and Zero's hands slid down to grip his lover's backside, rocking him against him, determined to please Kaname and love him totally.

Zero felt so _good _and Kaname's heart sang with the beauty of the contact and the strong appeal of this lovely closeness. "I love you, Zero," he murmured around the chocolate and the kisses, his voice soft and aching to be believed.

Zero's tender gaze said it was. He bit the piece of chocolate, making it smaller between them so he could more easily caress Kaname's enticing lips. "Are you mad at me, Kaname?" he whispered in a soft, hesitant voice after a moment, having broken the kiss long enough to speak.

Kaname blinked almost owlishly at him, as if the question were so unexpected and unthinkable he had no response. "At you?"

Zero nodded, leaning in to lick a smudge of chocolate from underneath Kaname's lower lip. "For being away so long. For not coming home with you when you asked," he whispered, his gaze diverted and slightly fearful. "It wasn't because I didn't want to..."

Kaname caught his face in his hands and tilted Zero's head back up. "No," he said firmly, the conviction of it showing clearly and honestly in his gaze. "No, Zero, I'm not at all upset about that. I missed you terribly and I hope you don't have to go away again for such an extended period for a very long time, but I'm not angry. I know you had to go and you couldn't leave..." he smiled wryly. "That was just me... wishing..." he admitted.

Very relieved, Zero leaned in and fused their mouths together again, savoring Kaname's taste, which was even better than the chocolate.

After a moment it was Kaname who drew back his head to speak. "Are _you_ mad at _me_, Zero? For missing lunch? And for neglecting you so terribly?" he whispered.

Zero shook his head, caressing Kaname's jaw with his thumb. "I know you're busy. I wish you wouldn't work so hard, but I get that you have to."

It was Kaname's turn to look relieved. "I'll make it up to you," he promised.

Zero paused again and smiled mischievously. "Okay, you can pay for the speeding ticket I got on the way home after the lunch you didn't attend."

Kaname gave a deep, genuine laugh. "Speeding ticket? Why Zero, I'm shocked..."

Zero rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, spare me the lecture. You'd have a pile of them if you didn't have a driver most of the time and if you were more scrupulous about not tampering with memories when you do get pulled over. But it's _your _fault I got this one or I would have been having lunch instead of explaining to a police officer what I was doing out at 2:00am on a..." Zero scowled. "On a _school _night."

Zero was in his early 20s, but he didn't look it. Kaname may love the fact that the hunter still looked exactly like he had when he was 17, but Zero found it to be a pain occasionally.

"Okay, it was my fault. It's a deal," Kaname agreed, still chuckling, his tired eyes twinkling more than they had in a while. "I had no idea your forgiveness was so inexpensive."

Zero grinned back. "You haven't seen the ticket yet. I was pushing 120 in a 45 zone and the officer was not amused. He was convinced my ID was fake so I was also cited for city curfew violation on top of everything else. Oh, and of course... there are the chocolates too," he added with a wink.

Kaname chuckled again. There were so many incredible reasons to love this boy. "Curfew violation? Is that even a ticketable offence? I think he was looking for things to throw at you. He really mustn't have been amused. Of course..." Kaname fondled one of Zero's ear-cuffs, the one shaped like a little skull. "You do realize you look rather like a delinquent, I'm surprised I didn't have to come bail you out of jail."

Zero's eyes narrowed in mock indignation, unable to repress a small shiver as Kaname's fingers fondled his ear. "Oh I do, do I?" He shrugged wryly, his hands lightly wrapped around the back of Kaname's neck. He decided not to enlighten his lover on how close to that actually happening they had come. Maybe he should make a mental note to _not _give police officers attitude in the future, no matter how bad of a mood he was in. "Well, you didn't. Disappointed?"

"Of _course _I am," Kaname quirked a half-smile that made Zero's eyes narrow further. "It would have been fun to see you in handcuffs..." the pureblood explained innocently.

Zero growled softly, flushing predictably as he tugged Kaname back to him. In actuality though, he was relieved by the normalcy of the pureblood's teasing and his smile was soft when their lips met.

Kaname easily melted back into Zero's warm, tender kisses, content to lose himself in the hunter. He didn't want it to end, even if he didn't particularly want it to go any farther. The sedatives he'd taken were starting to really take hold now and he began to feel drowsy, his senses dulling.

He would not resist if Zero pushed the matter. He would not say no, whether or not he enjoyed the intimacy. He didn't want to say no to Zero. He wanted to please him, to make him happy and give him everything he desired. His difficulty in doing so made him frustrated and angry with himself. Although kissing and touching Zero like this was absolutely wonderful, his inner apprehension, the pills and his growing sleepiness kept him from getting too worked up and his body unfortunately betrayed his apparent lack of serious interest.

They kissed for quite a while, until the chocolate was gone and they had thoroughly licked all traces of it from one another's lips and mouths. Kaname truly seemed to be enjoying the contact and in no hurry for it to end, but Zero had failed to get any other kind of reaction from him. The pureblood's body was soft and pliant against him where their hips were pressed together. Kaname's movements were starting to become a little sloppy, as if he were struggling to stay with it.

Gently, Zero pulled back, cupping his lover's face between his hands. Kaname's eyes were glazed, but only with weariness, although he was trying to hide it. "Kaname?" he murmured questioningly, gaze flicking down and then back up without really intending to.

Kaname knew he was disappointing Zero and he dropped his head in embarrassment and shame. He probably would have felt it all much more acutely if the sedatives weren't making his mind foggy and slow. The dark head fell to rest penitently against Zero's collarbones, Kaname's breath brushing the open neck of his shirt. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "It's not you, It's me... I... I... don't know what's wrong with me," he admitted softly, the anguish in his voice very real as his fingers curled into Zero's shirt.

Zero wrapped his arms around the huddled form immediately, feeling like a petty heel for being upset earlier. How could he not have considered that maybe all the stress Kaname was under was making it difficult for him to relax and enjoy other things? True, it certainly never had before, but Kaname's shame was obvious and Zero could only imagine how horribly embarrassing it must be for his very sensual partner to have any kind of difficulty in this regard.

Kaname's distress instantly drew Zero into caretaker mode and he gently rubbed the pureblood's back and kissed his hair reassuringly. The young hunter stubbornly ignored the fact that his own body had had no problem at all responding to their contact and was currently attempting to clamor for his attention with every maddening, throbbing pulse of his heart. His jeans were uncomfortably tight, but Kaname was much more important.

The pureblood was deep in the grip of the sedatives by now and it was becoming difficult to keep his eyes open. At least his apprehension and unease had also mostly melted under the power of the drugs. He vaguely thought it was too bad he probably couldn't convince Zero to go ahead and take him now after all. There was no chance of him getting aroused, and a high probability he would fall asleep, but he was pretty relaxed and not terribly frightened anymore.

"There's nothing wrong with you," Zero tried to assure gently. "You're tired and stressed to hell. You just need to get some decent rest for a change. You're going to sleep tonight if I have to _tie _you to the bed, okay?" he said firmly.

The pureblood mustered enough strength to look up at Zero with a sleepy, but playful grin. "Really?"

Zero kissed his nose with a mock scowl. "Don't get your hopes up."

Kaname looked like he was going to drop off right there in Zero's arms again, so the hunter rose, fumbling a bit awkwardly as he pulled Kaname with him. He wrapped an arm around the pureblood's shoulders to help support and guide him. "Come on, let's get you to bed, you look completely beat."

Kaname was beyond doing anything but agreeing with Zero and doing as he was told. The stairs, however, proved to be daunting and Kaname decided to sit down on the bottom one and think about it for a little while... his head drooping to rest against the railing...

Zero chuckled and bent down, scooping the pureblood up into his arms. "Oookay, sleepy head, let's do it this way then..."

Kaname stirred, but did not protest, wrapping an arm contentedly around his lover's neck as Zero carried him up the stairs and to the bedroom.

The pureblood was already in his pajamas, so Zero just pulled back the covers and laid him down on the bed. "Kaname, did you take something?" he asked in quiet concern as he pulled the covers back over the pureblood and smoothed his hair back from his forehead. Kaname was crashing a little too fast and a little too hard for it to be entirely natural and he was worried.

Kaname nodded, blinking heavily to try and keep his eyes open. "Sedative," he murmured, gesturing vaguely towards the bathroom. "Wanted to relax... for you..." he murmured groggily, his eyes sliding shut. The meds made him more truthful than he might have wished were he in full charge of his faculties. "My control's not... good. I was afraid I might hurt you. You were angry with me and I... I wanted to stop being a jerk..."

Zero felt a painful lump in his throat as he bent and kissed Kaname's forehead. "You're not being a jerk, Kaname, and I'm not angry with you," he promised softly. Earlier in the night he might not have been able to say that honestly, but he definitely could now. He caressed Kaname's face. "And I know you would never hurt me," he whispered.

Unshed tears formed unexpectedly in Kaname's eyes. There was so much trust in Zero's face, so much trust he felt he didn't deserve. His eyes fluttered closed again. "I don't want to. Ever." The soft whisper was barely audible, but Zero heard it.

"I know, it's okay. Just rest, Kaname. I love you, just rest..." the hunter murmured reassurance and kissed Kaname's forehead again. The pureblood was already slipping away but he smiled faintly before his face relaxed in sleep.

Zero stayed by him a few minutes longer to make sure he was really resting before he crossed silently to the bathroom. He wanted to see what sedative Kaname had taken, just in case there was anything he needed to know about it.

He found the medicine bottle in the cabinet and read the label. It was actually a pretty potent poison, but it would have to be to work for even a little while on a pureblood vampire. Zero didn't particularly like the fact that his lover had dosed himself with poison, but it was a legitimate medicine for this kind of circumstance and he hoped it would give Kaname the rest he needed. He also saw the warning label and smiled ironically. Well... if Kaname had been taking these that might explain some things.

As he slid the bottle back, the hunter glimpsed Kaname's almost empty container of blood tablets. He knew it had been nearly full only yesterday. Had Kaname taken more than just sedatives when he was up here? Why?

_I was afraid I might hurt you. _

Zero glanced back towards the bedroom, that faint sense of unease coming back into the pit of his stomach again. _Kaname... what's going on with you? And why can't I seem to help? _

----------------------------------

Zero was too worked up to go to bed right away. He didn't want to go to bed alone, but lying next to Kaname until he had cooled down would have been a unique form of torture. So he tiptoed back downstairs and curled up on the couch once more, going back to watching the game, although it held much less of his attention now.

About an hour later, he was starting to feel ready for bed himself when movement in the doorway made his head jerk up. He was surprised to see Kaname standing there. The pureblood looked asleep on his feet. His dark hair was mussed and his eyelids heavy. He was holding the comforter from his bed in one hand, and the way it trailed out behind him gave him a strange but uncanny resemblance to a sleepy five-year-old.

Zero's brows crinkled in concern. "Kaname, what are you doing out of bed?"

"I was alone," he mumbled groggily, as if that was a complete explanation. He was obviously still well entrenched in the grip of the sedative, although it must have dissipated enough by now to allow him to move on his own again. He was apparently still very out of it, however.

"I looked in your room but you weren't there. Don't get up... 's okay. Can I be here with you?" Kaname shuffled towards the couch, dropping down to lay on it with his head pillowed on Zero's thigh, the quilt partially pulled with him.

"Of course it's okay," Zero replied with a tender smile, even if it was slightly after the fact. Kaname murmured something unintelligible but very contented sounding as he snuggled his cheek comfortably against Zero's thigh, seeming to draw an inestimable amount of comfort from the contact.

Zero reached over and carefully pulled the quilt more fully over Kaname's body and then rested his hand on the side of Kaname's head, stroking his hair as the pureblood contentedly fell asleep again on his lap. Reaching for the remote, Zero turned the volume down low. The game was almost over, he'd go ahead and watch the end before carrying Kaname back up to bed again. His fingers stayed tangled in the dark hair. He couldn't help the sweet, warm tenseness in his chest. Whatever else was going on, it was at least quite clear that it was not effecting Kaname's desire to be with him.

Softly, he bent down and kissed his lover's sleeping brow. Kaname had always been there for him when he needed him, even flying halfway around the world just to give him blood. He wanted to do the same. He _would _do the same.

"Whatever it is you need, Kaname, whatever you're trying to do, I'll support you, I'll do my best to help make it happen, I promise," he murmured. _I will protect you, no matter what it takes. _The last was more of a feeling in his heart than an actual thought, but it was there inside him all the same, burning with absolute resolve.


	5. At Your Side

_A/N: Things are finally starting to heat up a little... *gets out her binoculars and spots bobbing yellow fruit on the horizon for the next chapter* LOL ;) Review responses in my forum as usual, check my bio for the link. _

**Chapter Five: "At Your Side"**

Either the sedatives had done their job, or Zero himself had been too exhausted to notice whether or not his lover had been restless again during their daytime slumber. In any case, Kaname was up before him, and already gone when the hunter awoke. Zero frowned slightly as he pushed himself up to sit, alone in the pureblood's large bed. If he didn't have to work and Kaname did, the pureblood often tried not to wake him, but for some reason today it made Zero feel a little lonely. After yesterday, however, Zero was starting to wonder if it was making Kaname feel lonely too. The way the pureblood had struggled to find Zero and be near him, even drugged half senseless, had made an impression.

Zero felt a certain measure of new resolve as he showered and brushed his teeth. Kaname was very good at thinking he needed to handle everything on his own and pushing people away from him when he needed them most. Zero knew that and he should have recognized the influence of that annoying habit in their current situation before now. Kaname asking him if he was going to be around next week and wanting him to come to meetings... in retrospect, he felt sure it was a signal he'd missed. It was probably as close as Kaname was going to come to asking for his help, or at least, his support. This understanding had come to him before bed, while he sat cradling Kaname's slumbering head on his lap, trying to work out why his lover seemed to be pushing him away with one hand and pulling him close with the other.

Zero rinsed and spit with a little more vigor than was necessary. It frustrated him that Kaname was so damn subtle sometimes... and that he felt so slow on the pick-up. _Would another pureblood have realized that Kaname was silently asking for help earlier?_ _Would they know and understand instinctually the things about his lover that still mystified Zero sometimes? Would they be better suited to understand his goals and assist him?_

The thought surprised Zero enough to make him freeze with his hand under the running water. He rarely thought that way and he didn't like it. _No, _he told himself firmly. He was _not _an unfit mate for Kaname just because they were different_. _Maybe another pureblood _would_ understand Kaname better in some ways. Maybe they would be able to share the world of political vampire intrigue that he walked in more easily. But just because something didn't come naturally to Zero, didn't mean he couldn't learn it, right? And _no one_ could cherish his lover's gentle heart and beautiful soul more than Zero did. No one could love him more totally. No one.

Zero realized his hand was getting cold under the tap and withdrew it. Finishing up in the bathroom he returned to his bedroom to dress. He chose a pale, long sleeved dress shirt, a charcoal vest and matching trousers. It was nothing quite so formal as a suit, but was definitely dressier than his preferred tees and jeans. If he was going to be hanging around Kaname's office longer than just a visit, he knew he needed to look more like he belonged.

His own restlessness this past week had been largely due to feeling like he wasn't sure what to do with himself, but he now had a very firm goal in mind. He was going to find out everything he could about the current situation with Mission Oil, Trifecta and Orion and attempt to assist Kaname in any way possible. He had a sinking suspicion that being set dressing was all he was going to be good for in the short term, but if being with Kaname was all he could do, then that was where he was going to be.

Kaname leaned back in the chair behind his desk, staring absently at the small cube of lead crystal he was turning over in his fingers. His eyes weren't really seeing the cube, however, nor any of the rest of his office around him. They were seeing a slender body curled beneath a comforter, one pale arm resting atop the covers, silver hair spread on a dark pillowcase and a beautiful face relaxed in sleep...

He closed his eyes, tormented by the pleasurably compelling memory of waking up next to Zero this morning. He deeply appreciated that Zero had spent the night in his bed again, despite the fact that Kaname was giving him very little reason to want to be there. He knew his reluctance to make love with his partner was not going unnoticed and it was kind of mortifying, not to mention stupid and frustrating.

Kaname felt more like himself today than he had recently, due perhaps to a combination of having gotten enough sleep for the first time in too long, the undeserved understanding and forgiveness Zero had given him, and the relief of feeling moderately more sure that his lover wasn't totally pissed with him.

He caressed the tempting curve of Zero's neck in his mind, knowing what that smooth flesh felt like under his fingers... under his tongue... under his teeth... Kaname's heart fluttered. Every part of his body had keen, tactile memories of what every part of Zero's body felt like and they curled through him now, ghosts of sensation making little shivers run through him.

It had really been far too long. He'd known that for certain when he saw Zero sleeping beside him this morning. It had been difficult to resist slipping on top of the sleeping hunter and waking him up in a most delicious manner. Honestly, Kaname wasn't sure why he hadn't. He'd wanted to, and he'd not felt that strange, frightened fluttering in his stomach that had been keeping them apart lately. But maybe part of him was still afraid that if he got too close, the weird darkness from the previous day would come back. It certainly wasn't making an appearance at the moment, however. He shifted in his chair, his body aching softly with longing.

Kaname's eyes drifted open again, his breathing slightly quicker now. He smiled a bit ruefully. This current line of thoughts was not helpful to his concentration. He had to leave for a meeting in only a few minutes and he'd better get his mind back where it needed to be. That wasn't too easy, however, what with the illusion of Zero's skin still tingling beneath his fingers. He could even swear that he felt the hunter nearby... Kaname's eyes widened slightly in surprise as he quickly realized that that last was _not _an illusion, a moment before the door to his office opened to admit the only person who would enter without knocking.

Zero could tell Kaname was alone in his office this time so he entered without waiting to be admitted. The pureblood was leaning back in his chair as if lost in thought, his long pale fingers toying with a small, clear cube shaped object of some kind. Zero wasn't sure what it was, it appeared a little too small to be a paper weight. Kaname straightened in his chair, tucking the object away in his pocket as Zero entered, a smile quickly gracing his handsome features.

"Zero, I wasn't expecting you." There was no reason for Zero to come all the way into town every day, the young hunter was technically on a vacation of sorts after all. Kaname's surprised pleasure at seeing him was obvious. There was also appreciation in the pureblood's gaze as he took in how good Zero looked in the smart outfit he was wearing. Zero looked great no matter what he was wearing, but Kaname couldn't deny that he found the hunter particularly irresistible when he dressed up a little.

"You look very... nice," there was a near predatory twinkle in Kaname's eyes at the last word. Given what unfortunately _hadn't _happened the previous day, the pureblood felt himself responding to Zero's presence and his attractiveness even more strongly than usual.

Zero felt Kaname's gaze like a physical touch as it slid up and down his body. It made his pulse speed up a little. The hunter grinned wryly. "Meaning I usually don't?"

Kaname's return smile was equally wry. "No, just meaning that you look very nice. You have plans for tonight?" There was a faint hint of longing hidden in Kaname's gaze, and perhaps even a little mild jealousy. Of course he wanted Zero to do things and have a good time, but he was jealous of anything that was going to take the hunter away from him when he wanted so much to be near him, even though Kaname knew how impossible that was, given his busy schedule today. _Damn this stupid work, damn, damn, __**damn**__ it!_

Zero read the faint emotion in the pureblood's eyes, even though Kaname was obviously trying to mask it for his sake and his smile both softened and turned a little playful. "Oh yeah, I have plans," he agreed lightly without elaborating. He leaned one hip against the edge of Kaname's desk. "What about you, what are your plans for today?"

Kaname struggled to swallow a stupid little rush of loneliness and kept up his brave front. "Meetings, meetings and more meetings. I have to be across town in about twenty minutes for a board meeting at Nago. Then after lunch I have some more appointments with various people regarding the Mission Oil situation." Kaname shrugged slightly. "The usual. I don't suppose you'd like to come," he joked.

"Yes," Zero replied without hesitation. He was totally serious, which made the pureblood do a most amusing double-take.

Zero couldn't help grinning at the way Kaname blinked at him in surprise. "I would like to go with you, if it's all right. I was thinking, as long as I have some free time, maybe I could try to help out with this whole Mission Oil thing. I mean, if it's important to you, it's important to me. So..." Zero shrugged. "Can I help?"

Kaname was staring at Zero, obviously still fairly surprised. "Of course you can, if you want to. But... it's just going to be a lot of dull meetings at the moment, there's not really anything I can give you to do right away... are you sure you want to?"

The utterly touched look on Kaname's face made Zero's heart feel very full. That look made what was most likely going to be a very long and boring day completely worthwhile. He knew he'd made the right decision. Zero waved Kaname's concern aside. "I'm just here to help in whatever way comes along," he assured. "I don't mind playing fly on the wall and just staying available. Nago is one of your companies, so they won't have a problem with me being there, and with anyone else, I can do the body guard thing, right?"

Kaname could only nod, Zero had obviously put a lot of thought into this already. He knew how little the hunter cared for being stuck in social or business situations with other vampires, so he doubly appreciated the unexpected offer. Not to mention that it meant he would get his wish... he would get to spend today with Zero after all. Even the prospect of working seemed more enjoyable with him around. "Yes, that should work fine... thank you."

Kaname seemed uncharacteristically unsure how exactly to express himself, but the sparkle of surprised happiness in his dark eyes was more than enough thanks for Zero.

There was a knock on the on the door and Siren's voice came from the other side, respectfully informing Kaname that it was time to leave.

Seiren had not been entirely pleased to find out that Zero was going to be taking over her duties for the day as far as accompanying Kaname around went, but the smile in Kaname's eyes had not let her feel truly displeased either.

Zero remembered her private admonition to him to take good care of Kaname with amusement. That was indeed his intention. Although he doubted anyone on the Nago board of directors was likely to get a sudden, suicidal urge to attack the pureblood. Nago was one of the many subsidiary companies that Kaname owned either directly or indirectly. He wasn't the president, but he was on the board and had to make an appearance at their annual meeting.

Kaname had confided in the car on the way over that he didn't really want to be there when he had so many other things going on, but duty was duty and it was only supposed to take an hour or two. Zero glanced at the clock on the wall as he sat next to Kaname at the long, polished conference table with the other board members. The meeting was already well into the second hour of that allotted time and as far as he could tell didn't show a sign of letting up any time soon. The meeting was dull, but Zero had expected as much and he was weathering it all right... except that for the last half hour or so, Kaname had taken to _looking _at him rather intensely every few minutes. _That _was getting distracting.

Zero shifted slightly in the padded leather seat. An extra chair had been brought for him as soon as it became clear that he was going to be joining Kaname at the meeting. The other vampires greeted him politely, did not dream of even questioning his presence since he was with Kaname, and then promptly forgot all about him as their more important business affairs took their full attention. Pleasantly forgotten was the way Zero liked it when it came to vampire gatherings. Kaname, however, appeared to be very aware of the hunter sitting next to him.

Everything he needed to be a part of had already been discussed and Kaname was having quite a difficult time keeping his mind on the meeting. His gaze kept sliding over to Zero, sitting beside him. The hunter looked so good. So _damn _good. The feelings Kaname had had this morning were not abating. It seemed his body had had just about enough of his strained abstinence whether or not his mind was ready to get over his issues.

Kaname realized he was staring at Zero's mouth and quickly diverted his gaze. No need to telegraph how much he was feeling the urge to kiss it. _Market predictions. They were saying something about market predictions, focus..._ Memories of the exotic, chocolatey kisses they had traded the previous day bubbled unhelpfully to the surface and Kaname sucked his breath in slowly, trying to control the reaction they evoked. He may have been too uneasy and too drugged to respond at the time, but he certainly seemed to be having no issues responding _now. _Kaname grimaced ruefully inside. Oh yeah. Great timing he had. Naturally it was only _now _that his body decided to start acting normal again. What the heck was up with that?

If he had been here alone, a sharp edge of despair would probably have knifed its way into Kaname's slowly growing longings and continued compounding his muddled feelings. But he wasn't alone. Zero was actually sitting next to him... which kept the loneliness at bay, even though it was not at all helping with his slowly growing desire. Or not so slowly growing, as the case may be. Kaname shifted slightly in his chair, glad that the edge of the table they were all sitting around covered everyone's laps. _"Focus!" _he told himself, but it was a losing battle.

Zero was equally aware of the pureblood. The topics being discussed meant little to Zero, and it was far too easy to let his mind wander, and it seemed to be wandering in only one direction right now, drawn like a magnet to the man beside him. The hunter suddenly saw the flaw in his plan of sticking close to Kaname. Being this close to his lover all day while constantly in public and under the eyes of strange vampires was going to be... _challenging. _Normally it would have been less challenging than he was finding it today, but Kaname had been so distant lately and now suddenly he was feeling the pureblood's eyes mentally undressing him every five minutes and it was kind of driving the hunter crazy.

Zero placed a hand on Kaname's thigh under the table and gave it a small, firm squeeze. It was an easy, invisible motion that no one else at the table would spot. He intended it as a gesture of warning for the pureblood to cut it out, but it backfired spectacularly and even as his fingers made contact Zero knew it had been a terribly counter-productive move for both of them.

Kaname's thigh was full and firm beneath the deceptively soft material of his dress pants. Because of the slight angle their chairs were positioned at, Zero's hand had landed much further up his thigh than intended. The tips and side of the hunter's last two fingers ever so slightly brushed a hard bulge that was _not _part of Kaname's thigh.

Kaname stiffened imperceptibly, his lips parting slightly as he inhaled a little too sharply. Zero's warm, unintentionally intimate touch on his leg causing a jolt of intense fire to ripple through him. His heart lurched in his chest. Aroused tingles seemed to be radiating from the hunter's hand and telegraphing through his entire body.

It was all Kaname could do not to groan aloud right there and then and he struggled desperately to hold his composure and not react. A soft, startled panic gripped him for a few heartbeats when he wasn't sure he was going to succeed. His cheeks felt hot and he knew any flush was going to be painfully obvious on his pale skin. With an extreme act of will, he managed to keep the flush to a minimum, even if he could not completely contain it. His only saving grace was that all eyes were on the vampire presenting graphs at the end of the table and not on him, or his reactions, subtle as they were, would never have gone unnoticed.

Zero froze as soon as he realized what he'd done. He had less success than Kaname at concealing the immediate flush that rushed to his cheeks as his heart kicked into triple gear at the sensation of any part of Kaname's body under his fingers, especially _this _part. His gaze shot to Kaname's face and he saw the delicate, insanely attractive blush that had spread across his lover's creamy cheeks and the tell-tale dilation of his eyes.

There was a small, unthinkable war inside Zero for a few long heartbeats. He knew he should pull back quickly, but part of him didn't want to. It had been so hard to get Kaname to respond to him lately and the strength of the response now had completely captivated him. A small, but very strong part of him was aching for Kaname so much at this instant that his brain just seemed to freeze and rational thought deserted him for a moment.

Despite all reason, Zero found his hand sliding further up Kaname's thigh, fingers stretching out and lightly tracing the outline of the hardness they had found.

Kaname had gone dead still. He appeared to have almost stopped breathing. The abnormally fast pounding of his heart thudded and twitched in the insanely sensitive skin beneath Zero's softly seeking caress.

Suddenly, Zero realized what he was doing and where they were and his own flush deepened. He jerked his hand back quickly into his own lap. _Holy crap! What had he done? _Mortification flooded him. He couldn't believe himself. He thought _Kaname _was bad... but he'd just freaking fondled the pureblood under the table during a board meeting! It hadn't been entirely intentional, but still... The painful flush extended all the way to the tips of Zero's ears and he tried to keep his gaze fixed to the shiny surface of the table.

Arousal thundered ruthlessly through Kaname's body as Zero's brief caress set him completely alight. His breath shuddered in his chest and then went still as he forced himself to hold it. Forced every muscle in his body to go ridged in order not to thrust his hips forward against Zero's hand, to not squirm and moan in his seat. It was beautifully unbelievable torture, and completely unexpected from his normally somewhat shy partner.

Zero's hand was quickly withdrawn and although it should have been a relief, it was just the opposite. Kaname felt the loss sharply. He risked a near trembling glance at Zero, which told Kaname that his lover was completely repentant for what he'd done. Kaname would have been surprised if Zero _hadn't _been embarrassed about it, given how very... conventional, Zero tended to be about these things. "Conventional" in this case being a polite word for "uptight". But the truth was, as much as part of Kaname was panicking over trying to keep his composure, another part was utterly lost and captivated by the small bit of risky aggression from his lover. Maybe bouts of abstinence weren't such a bad thing after all if they increased Zero's boldness a little. Well... no, okay, the abstinence was definitely killing him, especially at this moment.

Kaname drew in another trembling breath between slightly parted lips, attempting to steady and cool himself, but each breath felt like the air itself was searing hot with the weight of his own desire. This was delicious and wonderful and totally not good. Kaname was far too tempted and provoked to not respond now.

Sinuously, his own hand slid into Zero's lap, long fingers traveling inside of the hunter's thigh from knee to groin and then pausing to deliberately fondle his lover's crotch. He was pleased to note that Zero was just as hard as he was.

Zero's control was good, but not quite so ridged as Kaname's. He started slightly in his chair, his intake of breath softly audible as Kaname's unexpected touch wreaked devastating havoc on his already keyed up body. He quickly grabbed Kaname's wrist under the table, stopping him and shooting him a startled glare.

Kaname smiled sweetly as if to say, _"you started it". _

They were both lucky that everyone else at the table truly cared about what was being discussed and didn't seem of a mind to notice or pay much attention to whether or not Kaname's ex-human was feeling fidgety.

Zero's blood was literally pounding in his veins, a strange haziness filling his mind, almost like alcohol. He was pretty fully aroused and he couldn't seem to squelch it no matter how much he tried to think about something else, such as the boring things the man speaking was droning on about. Quarterly earnings reports should have been enough to throw a blanket on anyone's fire, but he had no such luck. Zero blinked, his eyes feeling heavy, his breath feeling short and all his senses feeling hyper-alert and attuned to the vampire beside him.

Surreptitiously, Zero fidgeted with the collar of his shirt. It wasn't tight, or even closed, but he felt very hot so he played with it anyway. Curiously enough... others around the table were doing the same. Their attention had not diverted from the speaker, but one of the closest vampires, across the table from Kaname was shifting slightly in his seat and another was absently fanning herself with a report. The room was quite cool, but it seemed that everyone's temperatures were rising a little.

Something was off about this. Zero tried to force himself to think.

Yes, he was naturally feeling aroused, but the incredible, building intensity of it and the strange, near drunkenness accompanying it were indicative of something else... something his hazy mind finally put a name too, although it didn't help much.

Kaname's pheromones. The pureblood was obviously significantly aroused and as a consequence, putting them off like crazy. Usually they were one of the many things about himself that the pureblood could control to a certain extent, but he had been just as caught off guard by all this as Zero and had perhaps been a little too slow at clamping down on them.

Other vampires in the room were feeling the effects too, although thank God they did not seem to realize why. Pureblood pheromones were incredibly powerful, but they were not like auras. Other vampires could all tell when someone in particular was pulling an aura, but pheromones were like biological aphrodisiacs and they were infinitely more subtle. Unless they knew what was happening, effected persons usually thought it was all their own doing.

Almost everyone at the table had an accelerated heart-rate now and Kaname too realized with a bit of surprise and chagrin that he was inadvertently causing it. He consciously tried to control himself even more, but the damage was already done. However... he realized this wasn't entirely a bad thing. Since everyone else was also feeling restless, vaguely aroused and flushing slightly as if the room was suddenly too warm, it meant his and Zero's conditions were much less likely to be noticed. The charmed bracelets they both wore meant that no one but the two of them could smell each other's very distinct arousal, fortunately.

Zero was breathing softly through his mouth now, struggling for air in much the same way Kaname had been doing a few moments before. The pureblood's pheromones obviously weren't doing to the others quite the same thing they were doing to Zero, or at least, it wasn't effecting them nearly as intensely. Zero had no real idea why that was, but some foggy part of his brain was trying to analyze this all rationally anyway in a vain attempt to distract itself. He theorized that it was because he'd been submersed in Kaname's pheromones fairly regularly - like, every time they'd ever had sex - so his reaction to them was much deeper, almost like an addict getting a whiff of their drug of choice. Not to mention of course the even simpler explanation that Kaname was his lover and had been touching him just a moment ago and... and... and despite it all, Zero desperately wanted to be touched again.

The hunter's fingers trembled slightly where they were still holding Kaname's wrist in an unintentional death grip.

He was mostly right. Vampire lovers could and did become addicted, or perhaps more accurately, _highly attuned_, to one another's pheromones. Their own body chemistry would subtly change and adapt to make them both more compatible and irresistible to the other. The effect was naturally all the more pronounced when a pureblood was involved. What Zero didn't realize was that it went both ways.

Although the hunter's pheromones were much less pronounced than those of a pureblood, they were also considerably more potent than those of a normal ex-human, and Zero had absolutely no idea how to control them or even that they were there. Although he probably wouldn't have caused anyone else in the room to feel anything without them being in direct contact with him, the effect on Kaname was distinct and intense. Kaname too, was conditioned to Zero's unique body chemistry. It had taken him longer to become attuned to it then it would have with another pureblood, where it could have happened in a relatively short time, but the end result was the same. The way they mixed with the scent of Zero's arousal, the sight of a flush of his skin and the clear physical indications of desire held Kaname captive and made him feel just as intoxicated as his beautifully hot and bothered lover. Zero may be addicted to him in a more or less literal sense, but he was equally and just as irrevocably addicted to the hunter.

Kaname's world had completely narrowed down to Zero - to his scent, to the tremble being telegraphed through the hand on his, to the compelling scent of desire...

Suddenly a dead, respectful silence fell over the room which indicated that something had happened and Kaname quickly grasped that someone must have asked his opinion and he had absolutely no recollection of who or what they had said. _Oops. _

Kaname maintained the picture of calm, although Zero could feel the brunette's pulse thudding in the wrist under his fingers. The pureblood effected a thoughtful look for a few moments and then leaned casually back in his chair, his free hand resting on the table. "Tell me what you think," he invited, as if testing the other speaker, whoever it had been.

One of the vampires at the end of the table quickly obliged, launching into a brief, but thorough explanation of his position on some point that sounded like complete Greek to Zero. Kaname nodded slowly once he had finished. "I concur," he agreed simply, which seemed to make the others fairly happy.

Zero shot his lover an amused look. Kaname had totally bluffed his way through that. The pureblood was a good actor and thought well on his feet, he had to give him that.

Kaname pushed back his chair and rose to his feet. "I truly regret to cause any inconvenience, but I'm afraid this meeting is running longer than anticipated and I have other pressing matters which require my attention. I must take my leave of you, but if there are any further issues on which my opinion is needed, please call my office and someone will help you."

Everyone at the table rose respectfully, the other board members quickly assuring Kaname that that was perfectly all right and understandable and they were sorry it had taken so long, blah, blah, blah... Zero tuned the babble out, but he was incredibly conscious of the fact that he was the only one still sitting. Kaname's long, buttoned suit coat conveniently hid his... _condition_... but Zero's clothing would not be so obliging. He had about five seconds before he was going to have to move or else everyone would start paying attention to him, which was exactly what he _didn't _want and the hunter's mind raced, trying to decide if he could move swiftly enough to get behind Kaname before anyone noticed without moving so swiftly that it would draw the exact attention he was trying to avoid. He unfortunately didn't think so.

Kaname was aware of Zero's predicament. He'd already thought of that himself. Even under duress, he couldn't help always thinking several steps in the future. While it would have been wickedly adorable to watch the hunter sit there and squirm, Kaname was not in that cruel of a mood. He briskly picked up his leather meeting folio from the table and casually handed it to Zero. "Would you mind carrying this for me, Kiriyu?" he asked quietly.

Zero felt an instant swell of relief, realizing what Kaname was doing and accepted the large folio. "Sure," he agreed simply, although his eyes flashed rueful, but genuine thanks. Zero rose quickly, casually but deliberately holding the folio in front of him in such a way that it concealed the source of his concern without being obvious.

Kaname thanked everyone and assured them that it was quite all right about the meeting running over, he wished he could stay, but no, they should definitely continue on without him, he had every faith in their decisions.

It seemed a small eternity to Zero before they had extricated themselves and were quickly walking down the corridor away from the meeting room at a quick clip.

"Geez..." Zero muttered softly once they were safely out of earshot. Kaname shot him a look that proved the pureblood was just _itching _to turn any recriminations about what had just happened back on the hunter. Zero had touched him first, after all.

Zero, still unable to believe he'd done that, gulped slightly and changed whatever he'd been about to say. "Good save on that question, I couldn't figure out what the _hell _he was talking about," he mumbled.

Kaname quirked an eyebrow. "Honestly, I hadn't a clue either," he admitted. "But it was hardly important and people are always happy with an answer if you agree with them." He smiled dryly.

Zero did a double-take and then chuckled. "You are something else."

Kaname's smile was broad, intensely adoring and decidedly dangerous. "No, Zero... _you_, are something else." Without warning, Kaname grabbed the hunter's hand and tugged him through a doorway on their left. The building was large and they were on one of the upper floors, a considerable distance from where their car was. That was just way too damn far given how the pureblood was feeling at the moment. He physically thought he might die if he couldn't touch Zero _right now. _

Zero had just a moment to realize that Kaname had led them into the men's restroom and catch a glimpse of the - thankfully empty - rows of urinals and bathroom stalls before the pureblood grabbed his face between his warm, deceptively delicate hands and started kissing Zero as if he hadn't touched him in a year. Which was rather what it felt like, actually.

Zero stumbled slightly, swept up in the sudden and overwhelming passion. Normally, he might have resisted at first, but... he didn't. He could sense that they had the room to themselves, and honestly... it just didn't seem to matter at the moment. Kaname was alive and passionate and _wanting _him in a way that was deliciously familiar, comforting and arousing all at the same time. His own need was already at near breaking point and he found himself kissing Kaname back with equal unrestrained fervor.


	6. Better than Drugs

_A/N: The chapter title comes from a Skillet song of the same name. You can find the lyrics and listen to it over on my blog if you want to (homepage link on my bio). It works very well for Kaname and Zero and for parts of this chapter. Review responses in my forum as usual, check my bio for the link. Oh, and the whole chapter is pretty much a citrusfest, so... consider yourself forewarned. ;D Sorry if the chapter cuts off a little abruptly, but it had to cut off somewhere or it would get waaay too long and that was the best spot I could find. _

**Chapter Six: "Better than Drugs"**

Kaname pushed Zero up against one of the stalls, kissing him hungrily. Zero felt his heart rate skyrocketing, shivering at Kaname's taste and the intense, almost wild heat of his passion even as reason warned him that he should probably try to control this before it got out of hand. They were in a very public restroom and anyone could come in at any moment. His fingers gripped Kaname's biceps, not sure if he was trying to push his lover away or pull him closer. It had been so long since Kaname had so obviously _wanted_ him like this... too long... and his whole body ached for the pureblood.

Kaname's knee insinuated itself between his thighs, the pureblood's hard thigh rubbing his crotch with seductive urgency and Zero gasped into the kiss. The folio he was holding dropped from distracted fingers and fell to the floor with a soft clatter, the angle causing it to slide into the empty stall behind them.

"K-Kaname, not here..." he protested breathlessly, breaking off into a soft yelp as Kaname's free hand un-tucked his shirt and dived without preamble into his lover's pants. "Kaname!"

Zero's face was flushed a beautiful shade of red, but the last protest turned into a near groan as Kaname fisted him relentlessly and the hunter felt his knees go weak from the intense pleasure. He wasn't sure why he even bothered, they both knew his protests were impotent and half hearted at best. No one could undo him like Kaname could. No one could totally flay his rational mind and smother all logical objections like Kaname could. _Lusty, arrogant, son of a..._

_"...bitch!"_ Zero accidentally finished the thought aloud in a breathless little sob of frustration and overwhelming arousal as his lover bit his neck firmly with blunt teeth while practically tearing his pants down his hips. Kaname's sensual urgency was incredibly compelling and Zero's pulse pounded in his ears so loudly he could hardly think. At the same time though, embarrassment flushed through him as he felt the pureblood's slacks grind against his now partially naked, and _very_ aroused, body. Zero caught sight of their mutual reflections in the long row of bathroom mirrors over the pureblood's shoulder and his mortification increased as he realized Kaname fully intended to do this right here.

One graceful, laconic eyebrow went up as Kaname lifted his head from Zero's neck so he could catch his gaze. The pureblood's strong thigh continued to chafe with exquisite ruthlessness against Zero's now exposed, throbbing erection, making the hunter squirm in enjoyment. "What did you call me?" he inquired with dark, heated amusement dancing in his seductively blazing eyes. Zero had many delightfully insulting names for him, but that wasn't usually one of them.

If Zero wasn't already as rosy as was physically possible, he would have flushed harder at the way that had ended up sounding. He gave Kaname a flustered glare. "I said you're a lusty, arrogant, son of a bitch," he replied, giving the whole train of thought this time. He was still panting softly for air and trying not to moan as Kaname did _incredible _things to his exposed body. It was very hard to act indignant and stand-offish when his lover had him pinned half naked to the door of a bathroom stall, thigh between his legs. Besides... the truth was... the last thing in the world Zero wanted to do right now was actually push Kaname away, not when he was finally acting somewhat normal. Although Kaname's timing sucked, it really did, and Zero wasn't about to keep that opinion from him.

"You're impossible," he muttered, trying in vain to control his breathing. "All week it's _'I have a headache'_ and NOW when we're in a frickin' _public bathroom_, NOW you decide to start acting like your normal twit self again."

Kaname grinned devilishly, as if he relished the insults, although it was probably Zero's absolutely adorable expression and his trembling, half-hearted resistance that made him smile. Zero was ravishingly attractive when his mouth was protesting while his body was begging for quite the opposite. Kaname curled his smooth, soft fist around Zero's now weeping arousal once more and enjoyed the feeling of just how much Zero's body was saying it wanted him.

"Mmm... you like it when I'm a lusty, arrogant twit," Kaname murmured in silky, sensual amusement, conceding easily to his lover's assessment as he stroked Zero until the hunter was truly gripping his arms for support, knees trembling and back arching against the cool surface of the restroom stall. "You, my love..." Kaname's fingers twisted and Zero's head banged back against the metal with a hollow thud as he tried to contain a rough groan of aching pleasure. "...like being able to grouse." Kaname sealed his lips over Zero's in a soul stealing kiss that did not let his lover come up with any retort to that.

Zero half groaned, half growled, but didn't try to break the kiss. His guts were on fire and his hard flesh was burning and shooting searing jolts of pleasure through him under his lover's skillful touch. He was already lost and he knew it. He wanted Kaname so damn bad it was making him dizzy. Apparently, Kaname felt the same way because he presently broke the kiss, shoving Zero's pants down to his knees and undoing his own fly.

Zero probably wouldn't have admitted it, but he got an incredible, forbidden thrill out of Kaname's reckless desire. Embarrassing as it was... there was something indescribably special and insanely erotic about the fact that Kaname wanted him so badly the pureblood was ready to break up a meeting just so they could make out in the men's room. It was especially gratifying after all Zero's concerns and confusion this past week. Deep down, Zero frequently felt the same reckless desires. He was often simply too hesitant to act on them until Kaname pushed his boundaries and let him discover how insanely good something so... well... _insane _could feel. He wasn't about to admit to it, but he kind of loved that about Kaname in an insufferable sort of way. The pureblood was correct. He did love it when he was a twit. Most of the time, anyway.

Make no mistake, it was a cake that cut both ways. Zero was quite capable of being the one doing the pushing at times and Kaname could be deliciously hesitant and unbelievably submissive when the hunter asserted himself. But the pureblood was obviously taking the aggressive right now very... well, _aggressively_. Actually, Kaname hadn't seemed quite _this_ desperate to get into his pants since the first few months after they'd initially bonded several years ago when it had been almost impossible to have a moment alone anywhere without finding a needy pureblood all over him. Zero supposed it was probably because, like him, Kaname was finally feeling the ache of how long it had been. Honestly... he wasn't really complaining.

Zero grinned sardonically to himself as he grabbed his pureblood's hair and jerked the dark head close, devouring Kaname's mouth again and allowing the pureblood to do as he would while they played rough, urgent tonsil hockey.

Kaname had freed his hard flesh from the prison of his pants without pushing the trousers down much and Zero shuddered as he felt the pureblood's hard length press against his own, the rough edges of Kaname's zipper rubbing and chaffing a bit against his heat-flushed abdomen.

Kaname shuddered too. Zero felt so _good. _Zero felt and tasted like the very essence of life itself as Kaname savored his mouth deeply and pressed their hard bodies together. He couldn't live, he couldn't think, he couldn't _breathe _without this incredible, wonderful boy. He supposed he should think of Zero as a man now. The hunter definitely _was, _but somehow, Kaname felt like Zero would always be the boy he fell in love with. _Hm, better not tell Zero that._ The thought made him smile tenderly. He suddenly didn't know how he could have stood to be away from the hunter this long. Maybe this was in fact why he felt like he was going crazy lately, maybe he'd just been missing Zero.

His heart was thudding heavily in his chest, like it could beat right out of his ribcage. His palms slapped softly against the metal stall as he planted them on either side of Zero's body, hips flexing hard as he humped the deliciously trembling, gasping hunter until he could practically smell that Zero was about to pop. The ex-human's breath came in delightful little hitching rasps as he struggled to breathe around their rough kissing.

Kaname stopped humping and pressed flush against Zero's body, enjoying the way Zero squirmed and ground urgently against him now, looking for the relief that was just tantalizingly out of reach. The need to be buried deep inside his lover's tight heat was overwhelming and Kaname groaned, gasping softly against Zero's mouth as they sucked urgently on one another's tongues.

Zero's stomach muscles felt like they were locked in spasm, blood pounding and throbbing mercilessly in his arousal. He was so close he could taste it, but Kaname was holding him pinned, not yet letting him take that final plunge. He squirmed, trying to buck against the pureblood's hard body, but he had no leverage, his lover had his hips firmly pinned. He sucked Kaname's tongue into his mouth and bit it, none too gently, letting his fangs draw blood in an obviously impatient gesture. His system flared with added delight at the taste of his lover's intoxicating essence.

The hunter shuddered again, nearly mad with desire, his eyes hazing towards red. He gasped as Kaname ground once against him, sending shivers of pre-climax through him only to pin him again, not letting it go any farther. _"Fuck!" _he cursed in a hoarse, wanton groan.

Kaname's nearly black eyes sparkled with heat and delight. His hands slid around behind his lover, cupping Zero's naked butt firmly. "I intend to," he returned in his most sinfully delicious bedroom voice.

It washed across Zero's senses like molten fire and he groaned yet again, helplessly. He was _so _going to kill Kaname for all this later. His lover was one very dead pureblood, he just didn't know it yet.

_Dead, dead, dead. Just wait, as soon as he had a chance. A soon as..._

Zero convulsed, his knees clapping to his lover's hips, albeit somewhat awkwardly around the tangle of his pants, as Kaname lifted him.

_...as soon as Kaname had finished screwing his brains out, hopefully..._

Zero's moans turned to soft, ragged gasps as Kaname's hands gripped his hips, his slick, searching middle finger finding and penetrating Zero's tight entrance.

_...__**then**__ the pureblood was so freakin' dead. _

Zero smelled the slight, familiar scent of the lube they usually used and pressed his eyes shut as Kaname's finger pushed deep inside him. He didn't recall seeing the pureblood pull the gel out, but Kaname was pretty fast and Zero was pretty damn distracted. He supposed he should be grateful that the pureblood carried the stuff around like it was as essential an accessory as his cell phone. It probably was, actually, sometimes it seemed a toss-up for which one got used more... Zero buried his face against the side of Kaname's neck as the pureblood swiftly added a second finger.

His lover was stretching him much too quickly, but in Zero's current state nothing could be quick enough. _He was dying here..._

Two sets of vampire ears caught the approaching footsteps and the creak of the restroom door a few seconds before they would be discovered.

Zero's heart jumped up into his throat. Wrapped embarrassingly around Kaname like he was, he could hardly move and was in no position to do anything to avoid the utterly humiliating encounter that was eminent. Shame burned through his body, momentarily dousing even arousal and he buried his face tighter against Kaname's neck, as if he could disappear into him. Zero was not ashamed of being with Kaname, or of letting his beloved make love to him. But that wasn't what this was about. The thought of having random strangers see him getting taken in the men's room was just humiliating.

Kaname was so aroused right now, he really didn't care who saw them. Despite knowing it was dangerous, sometimes he just wanted to go ahead and let the whole freaking world know that he loved Zero. If anyone had a problem with that it was _their _problem. Besides, it was another, lower class vampire approaching and so Kaname knew it was the _newcomer_ who would be humiliated and embarrassed at having walked in on a pureblood and would promptly leave again if he knew what was good for him.

However, Kaname was quite aware of Zero's feelings and he sensed the sudden, horrified shift in his lover's emotions. Zero didn't want to be seen and honestly, Kaname couldn't blame him. The sad fact was, the world would not understand. A vampire would have no problem with what he saw happening here, but for all the wrong reasons. An accidental witness would assume Zero was a thrall, fulfilling a thrall's role, rather than that the ex-human was a lover whom Kaname adored with his entire being and was willingly enslaved to with every single beat of his heart. Kaname would not hurt nor humiliate Zero by subjecting him to others' misplaced assumptions. Not for anything.

With vampire speed, the pureblood moved them both inside the stall they had been leaning against a moment before, pushing the door shut behind them just as the outer door squeaked open and then closed again. For half a moment, Kaname felt a strange tug at the back of his mind. Like a funny whiff of deja-vu that whispered some sort of vague familiarity. _The fear of being discovered. Footsteps... _they were more feelings than real impressions and he pushed them aside with a small shake of his head, his mind too deliciously focused on Zero and the way their bodies were erotically pressed together to think about much else.

The incoming man was talking to someone, but there was only one set of footsteps, so he was obviously on the phone.

Zero could just hear the murmur of the quiet, one sided conversation over the thudding of his own heart as Kaname held him up with his back against the inner wall of the bathroom stall, the hunter's knees still gripping his lover's hips. The scent suppressant charm in the matching bracelets they wore meant that the smell of arousal and the little bit of Kaname's blood that Zero had drawn, while very apparent to the two lovers, would be undetectable to the other vampire. Kaname had also doused his aura. If they stayed quiet, the other vampire would never notice a thing.

Zero felt a shaky swell of relief wash through him and turned his gaze back towards Kaname. His lover was smiling at him, his whole attention on Zero as if the man outside could pretty much go to hell and the pureblood wouldn't care. But if Zero cared, then Kaname cared.

Zero felt shy under that heated, amused, hungry, adoring look and he scowled, freeing a hand to smack Kaname on the side of the head and struggling to get his feet under him again.

At first, Kaname didn't let him, holding his butt firmly and pressing a warning kiss against his lips. "Shh... you don't want him to see two sets of feet in here, now do you?" he purred in a soft voice, only audible to Zero.

The muted tones of the business man's voice indicated he was still on the phone and now standing at the far end of the lavatory. Other sounds indicated he was probably using one of the urinals. Zero didn't really think the guy was going to notice such things, he seemed pretty engrossed in some kind of hot and heavy stock trading.

"Screw you," Zero whispered back heatedly, pushing and squirming quietly but forcefully until Kaname had to relent and let him get stand. The hunter saw the comeback dancing in Kaname's eyes and lifted a warning hand, while the other hand groped for his pants. "Don't you _dare_ comment on that," he warned.

Kaname looked innocent. "I wasn't going to say anything."

Zero eyed him. "Yes you were, and you can forget it."

Kaname was trying to look earnest and seductive and Zero was trying to look pissed and not interested, but smiles were tugging at their lips despite their efforts. After a moment they gave up and shared a soft, muffled chuckle at the ridiculousness of their situation and the close call. Zero seemed to relax a little.

Kaname caught Zero's hand, not letting him pull his pants up. Instead the pureblood rocked their exposed groins together again, slowly. He was frustrated at this interruption, but he wasn't going to take that frustration out on Zero. He was gratified to feel Zero's body tremble slightly against his once more.

Zero's arousal had been checked rather sharply by the fear of getting caught, but the adrenaline spike that that fear had caused, and the resulting wash of relief were pretty potent aphrodisiacs when combined with his lover's intense gaze and hard, skillfully stroking body. Zero felt himself climbing

quickly back to where he'd been before as Kaname gripped both of their erections in his hand, pumping against Zero while at the same time stroking firmly up and down with his long fingers.

Zero tried to catch his breath. He knew if he didn't make Kaname stop now there wasn't going to be any turning back again. Problem was... he didn't really _want _to make Kaname stop. He kind of thought he should, but he didn't _want _to.

Kaname stroked him firmly, rubbing his thumb insistently against the head of his lover's erection. Zero's stomach tightened and his hips jerked, thrusting into Kaname's grip almost of their own volition. If he was honest with himself... he wanted this very much. _Aw, to hell with it. Wasn't he the one who had been __**wanting **__this Kaname back all week? _

He grabbed Kaname's shoulders again, fingers digging tensely into the soft wool of his suit coat. He breathed swiftly through parted, kiss swollen lips, letting Kaname pleasure him as only the pureblood knew how. "You're such a... damn tease..." he breathed softly, one hand sliding off of Kaname's shoulder and finding his lover's hard length. Kaname felt hot and heavy in his hand and Zero fondled and stroked him roughly, enjoying the pureblood's intense reactions.

Kaname's body shuddered under Zero's touch and he growled softly in his throat, pushing the other back harder against the stall and kissing him breathless.

Zero's head buzzed, he rocked urgently against Kaname's body, tugging on his lover's tongue as if he'd like to swallow it. Again, Kaname stopped Zero before he could reach completion, grabbing the hunter's wrists and pinning them to the stall wall by his head, kissing Zero passionately and possessively while keeping their hips apart. He was unconsciously being more controlling than usual, intent on pleasuring Zero, but somewhat reluctant to allow the hunter to touch and pleasure him in return. It was entirely subconscious and unintentional, but he simply felt safer when he was in control.

Kaname didn't realize it and did not intend it, but he was mentally _holding_ Zero a little tighter than he should have and it was making the hunter's lungs feel strained. It wasn't at all dangerous, but it was a trifle uncomfortable. Zero pushed a bit against Kaname's chest, not trying to push him away, but just to get his attention.

"Can't... breathe... here..." he panted softly in dry amusement as he pressed back against Kaname. His voice was low but less guarded than before because they'd both heard cell phone man leave a few moments earlier.

Something very cold rushed over Kaname. It was that strange deja-vu all over again, stronger now as if summoned by Zero's innocent words. The scene came to him sudden and unbidden, as if he'd seen it before, or lived it before in a dream that he could not now recall. But it wasn't Zero's back against the wall, it was his. He was the one who couldn't breathe... but it felt good. So wickedly, unforgivably good...

_Footsteps. He feared being found, but he couldn't turn, couldn't pull away. A dark, silky laugh and equally silky fingers playing possessively through his hair. _

_Wide, startled green eyes that registered first shock, then understanding and something that looked like hurt or perhaps betrayal before their gaze was torn away and the blonde boy ran quickly back down the hall. _

_Guilt, shame and anguish in the pit of his gut. He wanted to go after the boy but was held back._

_Takuma..._

"Kaname? Kaname?" fingers were running through his hair and it was all Kaname could do not to start at the sensation. He realized he was pressed hard and unmoving against Zero, face buried by his neck, body still pinning his lover to the stall wall. His breath rasped quickly between parted lips.

_Takuma? What the __**hell **__was that? Takuma shouldn't have been there... not as far as he knew. His childhood friend had had nothing to do with that whole mess. Not the bad parts anyway. He had been around later, but nothing bad had happened then. So where had those images come from? _

Kaname realized he must have frozen for a few moments because Zero was trying to pull his head up, his slightly confused and maybe concerned voice saying he thought something might be wrong.

Something was, but Kaname didn't want to show it. _It's just your mind mixing things up, creating disturbed scenarios from bits and pieces of half-truth, _he told himself firmly. That was certainly the only thing that made the weird, twisted scenario he'd glimpsed make any kind of sense. Maybe he was cracking up. Maybe he was on a sure path towards a mental breakdown or something, but there was no way he was letting that interfere with his relationship with Zero any more. He could not allow whatever was screwy with his past to ruin his present and future.

Kaname pulled his mask back in place and let Zero pull his head up, giving the hunter a devilish grin. "Impatient, are we?" he teased and Zero scowled, but the relief in his eyes was evident and went straight to Kaname's heart. He'd made Zero worry about him far too much. He needed to stop being such a flake.

He resumed kissing Zero, but something had changed and Zero could feel it. He wasn't sure what had happened, but Kaname was pulling back, even if not physically. Well like _hell _that was going to happen, not after Zero had already given up and resigned himself to this happening _here _of all places. The hunter was way too aroused and needed to finish this, even if it meant picking up where Kaname had left off. Zero kissed his lover harder, his freed hands mapping the pureblood's incredibly perfect body with urgent ardor. Kaname, more passive than before, allowed it and Zero was gratified to feel his lover tremble against him in enjoyment as he fisted him firmly.

Kaname's eyes were black with pleasure and he inhaled sharply with a sexy little hissing sound that Zero adored as the hunter's callused thumb worked the sensitive head of his length. There was a natural flow of give and take between the two. They had learned one another's rhythms, so as Kaname ceded control, Zero took it gracefully, unexpectedly finding himself in the driver's seat. It was ironic, considering his initial protests, that_ he_ suddenly found himself in the position of being the one doing the coaxing and seducing. Unanticipated, perhaps, but as Kaname gave a soft, panting groan and leaned hungrily into his touch, Zero decided it was not an unwelcome turn of events. He _loved _Kaname's responsiveness. Loved making the pureblood weak with pleasure. His lips trailed down to Kaname's collarbones, nuzzling aside the crisp white collar of his shirt and licking the small hollow at the base of his neck. The ex-human's hands caught the waist of Kaname's trousers and pulled them down his hips, pushing them to his knees like Zero's were.

Kaname let himself get lost in the sensual touches, it was so amazingly erotic when Zero got like this. He felt the blood pounding in his groin flare hotly when his lover unexpectedly slid to his knees on the bathroom floor and curled his hands around the back of the pureblood's naked thighs, pulling his hips close.

"Zero...!" Kaname's breathless murmur encouraged the hunter and Zero nuzzled Kaname's loose shirt ends apart, kissing, licking and nipping at his lover's navel before quickly delving lower and sucking Kaname's throbbing flesh into his mouth.

Kaname leaned back hard against the nearest wall of the narrow stall, pressing the back of one fist against his mouth to keep from crying out, his other hand fumbling sideways and bracing against the inside of the stall door. Flooded with sensation and a little off-balance, he felt very vulnerable and confused, but also very safe... and very, _very _aroused. His knees felt weak as Zero's wet, humming heat swallowed him and made fissions of intense delight chase one another along his nerve endings and curl wildly in his gut.

Zero was pretty worked up already and had no patience for taking anything slowly. He bobbed his head rapidly, working Kaname intensely until the pureblood was gasping and crying out softly, almost mewling with pleasure and need.

Since Kaname had put the reins in his hands, Zero slid his fingers further back along Kaname's inner thighs, finding his entrance and teasing it as he pleasured him. Kaname squirmed a bit in enjoyment, but stiffened slightly.

"No," Kaname panted softly, a faint edge in his soft, lust laden tone. Zero couldn't tell if that edge was apprehension or irritation, although neither one made sense.

Zero sucked Kaname deeper into his throat, seeking to make him forget any objections as he pressed the finger a little deeper.

Kaname inhaled sharply, his heart racing. He reached down and caught Zero's wrist, physically stopping him. "No, Zero..." his tone was a little harsher, his breathing ragged. He wasn't ready for that right now, he just... he wasn't.

Zero frowned slightly, hesitating for a moment as he gazed up at Kaname. He knew he didn't _have_ to take no for an answer. All he had to do was hold Kaname's eyes and tell him to be still and obey him. All he had to do was whisper that if Kaname loved him, he'd let him do what he wanted... and the pureblood would surrender. By now, Zero knew that Kaname would deny him nothing if pressed in that manner. He knew the pureblood so well he could almost see his reactions, the whole scene unfolding unbidden in the space of a heartbeat within his mind's eye.

Kaname would stare at him for a moment in hazy, torn surprise. Then the gorgeous, dark eyes would close. Kaname would press his head back against the bathroom stall and spread his legs for Zero, his pulse pounding, breath hitching in his chest as he held onto the wall, fingers nearly turning into claws and scratching the painted metal behind him.

_"Who do you belong to?" _the phantom Zero whispered, the words as full of tenderness and adoration as they were fierce possession.

_"You," _the phantom Kaname whispered back without hesitation, his voice husky and laden with the beautiful struggle between dominance and submission that was so erotic to watch play out within him.

The image was gone as soon as it appeared, but it wreaked havoc with Zero's already intense arousal and he gasped softly around Kaname's hard flesh, his heart pounding desperately. He knew he could have that. But... he would have to push past what Kaname was clearly indicating he wanted in order to get it. Kaname _would _do anything for him, but that didn't mean Zero was ready to require it of him. Sometimes, Kaname liked it when Zero pushed him, after the fact anyway. Zero completely understood since the reverse was also true, but somehow... somehow something inside warned him, even through the haze of desire wrapping his mind, that he would hurt Kaname if he pushed him right now.

So Zero reluctantly let it go, curling his hands around the back of Kaname's thighs as he pleasured him and letting his passions flow into whatever Kaname _was _comfortable with at the moment. If his lover didn't want to be touched there right now then okay, he didn't. If Kaname would rather take him at the moment, that was fine, the hunter was good either way. Zero just wanted to love him. He'd missed Kaname, missed touching him like this so damn bad.

Zero stopped short of bringing his lover to climax, releasing him before that and pushing back up to his feet, enjoying the way Kaname thrust and strained urgently against his thigh as he pressed his body to the pureblood's once more. The hunter kissed Kaname deeply, letting the other vampire taste himself on his lover's lips. Kaname's pheromones were flooding the stall and the ex-human was starting to get high again, but he didn't care. He was okay with being addicted to Kaname. It was merely a physical representation of what his heart and his soul felt. And anyway, to be honest it felt pretty amazing.

"Who do you belong to?" Zero whispered, the words as full of tenderness and adoration as they were fierce possession as he leaned into Kaname, kissing him intensely.

"You," Kaname breathed back without hesitation, his long fingers tangling desperately in Zero's hair as he clutched him close, devouring his mouth in hungry, almost sobbing kisses. "Only you, Zero..."

A soft smile tugged at the hunter's lips because he'd known the answer, and because... because for some reason, he really needed that added assurance from Kaname's lips that the pureblood was his and only his. It wasn't that he doubted that but... but for some reason, he'd just really needed to hear it.

Kaname's body was burning with fevered need and his heart felt very tight and full at the same time. It stirred him and filled him on a deep level when Zero got tenderly possessive like that. He wanted nothing more than to be completely Zero's and have Zero be completely his. Lately... he wasn't sure he deserved that, but he needed it. Needed it very much. The pureblood was uncertain, holding himself back because he felt unsettled, and when he felt unsettled he was not the safest person to be around. But every fiber of him was burning for Zero, burning to take the physical assurance that Zero was his as much as he was Zero's. He longed to forget all his pain in the uniquely overwhelming passion of making love to his partner. Zero was safety, an escape that had saved him before in the past... was it wrong of him to need that again now? He didn't know, but he could no longer fight it.

"I want you..." Kaname's soft voice was almost a little sob of desire. There was something vulnerable in his smoldering eyes, as if he suddenly wasn't sure he had the right to ask that of Zero. That was kind of weird, but all the blood in Zero's body felt like it was currently pooling somewhere a lot lower than his brain, so he didn't think about it too much.

Instead, the hunter smiled wryly. "Yeah, I got that impression," he murmured, giving the pureblood a heated glare that was pure invitation rather than rebuff. He leaned closer to Kaname, his increasingly biologically intoxicated state doing much to suppress his normal shyness. "So what are you waiting for?" he breathed against Kaname's skin. "An engraved invitation?"

Kaname groaned and kissed him hard before pushing away from the wall, his hesitation and restraint crumbling under Zero's delicious provocation. The stall was small, and the logistics in here were tricky, but Kaname was quite skilled at problem solving on the fly. Turning Zero around so that his back was to the pureblood, Kaname unceremoniously bent him over in the only direction that there was room to bend.

Zero caught himself, pressing his hands against the back wall of the stall for balance as he found himself bending over the toilet. He groaned and closed his eyes. He wanted this very much, and knew he could have stopped it already if he had so desired, but still... the location was pretty embarrassing.

"Kaname... you are _really_ going to owe me for this," he muttered as his fingers curled against the tiled wall. The truth was, his guts were burning and his body was screaming to feel his lover, so he wasn't really in a position to be complaining. Much.

Kaname chuckled softly behind him, giving his backside a firm little smack with his palm. The familiarity of Zero's flustered teasing helped pull him out of the darkness and ground him back into the moment. "There you go again. You _do _like to grouse, don't you? You weren't complaining a minute ago..."

Zero growled and glowered over his shoulder at him appropriately. If the heat churning inside him was any indication, Kaname had been right earlier and he did in fact like the pureblood's arrogant twit side more than he would admit. Or maybe it was just because it was so good to see Kaname act a little confident again, without whatever that weird fear was that seemed to haunt his eyes lately.

He stiffened in anticipation as he felt two of Kaname's lubed fingers thrust swiftly into him again, working rapidly in and out with a toe-curling urgency that said that Kaname was feeling pretty desperate and pushing the limits of his control in order to not just take his lover un-prepped.

Zero's tight, slick heat gripping his fingers was almost more than Kaname could bear and presently he withdrew them, gripping Zero's slender hips and pressing forward to claim him.

Zero's breath came short as he felt Kaname's hardness probe his throbbing entry before seeking swift and merciless entrance. He'd already realized this was going to hurt and his fingers curled against the tile again, nearly cracking a couple as Kaname's slick girth thrust forward into his body in a series of rapid, fluid jerks. Kaname was playing a bit rough, but Zero had practice and he knew how to make his overly tense muscles relax and accept it, easing the initial burn of the penetration.

Soon Kaname was deep enough that he started stretching and messaging the _good _places as he went and Zero hissed softly through his teeth at the tingly, arousing sensation. Despite the bit of residual pain, his lover's roughness felt _very _good against the sensitive glands and nerve bundles hidden inside the hunter's body and Zero groaned in agonized pleasure as Kaname continued thrusting hard until he'd taken the other boy as far as he could go.

Maybe he should feel ashamed by how much he enjoyed the feeling of having his lover buried inside him, but he just couldn't. Zero gasped softly as Kaname pulled almost all the way out and then pushed back in again in one swift, hard thrust, striking firmly against his deepest sweet spot and making his muscles tense instinctively around the thick intrusion.

Kaname groaned happily at the friction and the feeling of Zero's body gripping him. With almost delirious urgency, he thrust again and again, taking Zero very hard and very deep each time. It felt so damn good the pureblood could have cried from the sweet bliss. His hands on Zero's waist trembled, gripping tight enough to bruise as his hips flexed back and forth with rising speed.

Zero gave a strangled cry of delighted agony as Kaname plumbed his depths almost brutally. He gasped for breath. His head was slightly inverted as he braced against the wall and the blood rushing to it, mixed with his own skyrocketing arousal, made him dizzy. The force of Kaname's hips slapping into him rocked him back and forth and his fingers trembled as they sought purchase on the slick tile wall. His shirt and vest were riding up his back under the force of the rocking motions. Zero spread his legs a little further, as much the pants around his ankles allowed, both for balance and in a slightly unconscious attempt to take his lover deeper. It felt so unbelievably good. _So. Unbelievably. Good. _

Kaname felt his breath hitching as Zero spread his legs a little wider, as if in invitation. It was an invitation he accepted eagerly and his already swift motions sped up to _vampire_ swift, his hips slapping into Zero's hard enough to smart. There was something very primal and carnal about making love like this and it excited him almost unbearably. Maybe it could hardly even be called making love at this point, maybe _screwing_ was a better term for what they were doing. Yet even so, it would never have been this amazing with anyone but the hunter. He loved Zero so much. So much.

Half intentionally, half unintentionally, Kaname was once again wrapping the already intoxicated hunter up in a heady swirl of pureblood pheromones. The aphrodisiac high that those natural body chemicals could elicit in others was something that many purebloods had learned to use to their advantage - one of the many tools nature had given them for seducing and retaining their prey. Kaname never used them on Zero with that intention, of course. They were released naturally when he was aroused, and it was simply another delightful element to their love making. He always wanted to make Zero feel as incredible as the hunter made him feel.

Sometimes though, like now, Kaname would choose to release a little more than usual. He knew he was being pretty rough with Zero, so he sought to make extra sure that it was still intensely pleasurable for his lover.

And it was.

Zero had to bite his lower lip hard not to cry out. Kaname was taking him so hard he practically saw stars each time the pureblood rammed against his inner pleasure centers. Honestly, the pureblood was taking him _too_ hard. Kaname was much too strong for his lover's ex-human body when he didn't rein himself in. The unrelenting penetration burned and stung pretty sharply and the pureblood's firm hips were almost spanking him, but Zero was so aroused, and swiftly getting so completely hopped up and overdosed on his lover's pheromones that it still managed to feel incredibly good despite, or perhaps even because of, the pain.

Kaname ran his hands up over Zero's hips as he took him, gliding along Zero's sides and caressing the milky back that was being exposed as Zero's shirt slid up his torso to bunch a bit under his armpits. Kaname pressed trembling kisses against his lover's lower back.

_"Crap!" _Zero swore hoarsely as he shuddered in ecstasy, a yellow-spotted grey tinge dancing before his eyes because of his position and overloading sensations.

"Mm, well, we're in the right place..." Kaname murmured, voice devilish but breathless.

"Shut up!" Zero snapped hoarsely, mortified. "I'm going to kill you."

Kaname chuckled, he liked getting a rise out of his lover way too much. But then, Zero seemed to enjoy being contrary too. "You want me to stop?" he purred, knowing the answer.

Much as Zero might have wanted to spite him a little... he didn't want to spite him _that_ badly. "Go to hell," he mumbled.

It almost killed Kaname, but he actually stopped, pressed deep into his lover's body, lips pressed to his spine. He trembled from the effort. "Oh? Does that mean yes...?" he taunted softly.

Zero gave a soft, agonized groan, feeling like he was dying from the sudden lack of friction. "Shit, no!" he shot back with a growl and Kaname grinned, picking up the punishing pace again with relief.

"You curse a lot when you're aroused, you know that?" he purred in mock reproof, garnering him another expletive laden explanation of how that was entirely Kaname's fault. Kaname chuckled and straightened, his hands caressing Zero's sides again. The pureblood loved the feeling of Zero's strong, tense muscles rippling under his hands. There was something else he wanted to feel too...

Zero lost his battle to not cry out when Kaname's arm snaked around his waist and the pureblood's hand dived between his legs, holding him so that each brutal motion thrust the hunter through his lover's fist. Zero didn't last long with that kind of stimulation.

He peaked with a hoarse cry, his body convulsing as blinding pleasure slammed into him, tearing through his body and exploding in his groin. His legs trembled, his hands lost purchase on the wall as he nearly curled in on himself, struggling unsteadily to retain his balance as all his nerves seemed to short out at once, consumed by the force of his climax.

Kaname grabbed at him, not about to let him fall given their location. He caught Zero's arms, hands sliding on the fabric of his shirt but catching when they reached the hunter's wrists. Pulling Zero's arms in against the hunter's chest, the pureblood used the leverage to keep his lover upright and at the same time tug him even more firmly back into Kaname's urgent thrusts while the hunter screamed softly through his orgasm.

Only when Zero started to come back to himself a little did he realize that due to his position and the position of the toilet, he'd not made a mess of his clothes as he'd expected. _Convenient... _the thought trailed sluggishly through his somewhat fried mind.

Kaname was still bucking into him, holding onto Zero almost painfully tight. Zero panted and keened softly from overstimulation, his body aching and his knees nearly giving out for real as his sated body was plundered incredibly hard for another minute or two before the pureblood gave a choked groan of sheer bliss and released his seed deep inside his lover's body with deep, jerky movements. The pleasure was deep and intense and it nearly overwhelmed the pureblood with the sheer, aching bliss of it. All the tension and stress that felt like it was going to break him today disappeared and he allowed himself the luxury of filling his soul with nothing but Zero.

Zero couldn't see Kaname in this position, but he could clearly hear the pleasure in his sobbing breaths and feel it in his trembling body. That always made him feel good. The hunter's knees gave out. The blood pounding in his head was still making the yellow spots dance before his eyes and he was beginning to notice that he was _incredibly _sore.

Kaname released his wrists, the pureblood's strong arms curling quickly around his lover's waist, pulling Zero's back tenderly to his chest and supporting him fully. Carefully, Kaname started to straighten. Zero winced and tightened at the movement, so he didn't try to straighten all the way and instead remained partially bent over, still holding Zero's back to his chest, but at least he got Zero up enough to un-invert his head. He kissed the back of Zero's neck tenderly, murmuring soft words of adoration against his skin.


	7. Stirring Up Shadows

_A/N: The flashback in this ended up much longer than I thought, so it kind of pushed some stuff I'd meant to have at the end of this chapter into the next one *rolls eyes* oh well, the chapters will do what they want to, apparently. I'm aware that the flashback scene will probably raise as many or more questions than it answers, but the layers of the situation are only beginning to be peeled away, so don't worry if a lot of stuff still doesn't make sense yet, just keep hanging in there for more to come out. :)_

**Chapter Seven: "****Stirring Up Shadows****"**

Zero curled his arms around Kaname's where they encircled his waist, holding onto the pureblood and savoring his tenderness while he attempted to catch his breath. His hair clung to the cooling perspiration on his face and neck and he felt both light headed and somewhat disassociated from his surroundings. It was a really good feeling though, kind of reminiscent of the time he and Aido had gotten into an ill-advised contest involving shots of vampire strength vodka... only without the nausea, headache and throwing up parts.

Zero tried to straighten up further, but the movement made the room wobble and spin around him, the floor feeling as unsteady as the deck of a bucking ship. He clung to Kaname's arms to battle the vertigo and resisted a chuckle that had no real cause.

"Whoa... the room is moving..." he mumbled, slurring a bit and almost sounding puzzled. He felt like he'd been on a three day bender and snorted massive doses of narcotics - not that he'd ever done either of those things, but this was what he imagined it would feel like anyway. His mind was hazy and he wasn't at all sure he could support himself if Kaname let go. Kaname had accidentally overdone it on the pheromones, and Zero had been too needy, too open to them. He was completely stoned and feeling unreasonably happy.

"No, Zero, just you," Kaname murmured softly, kissing the back of the hunter's damp, irresistible neck. Zero was _so _cute when he was intoxicated in any way. The pureblood should probably feel guilty about being the cause, but just at the moment, he was experiencing a similar, if slightly less incapacitating sensation himself and his mind wasn't entirely at its clearest either.

Zero felt something moist trickling down the inside of his thigh and if he had been capable of flushing more, he would have. "Leaking..." the hunter murmured the word aloud with hazy annoyance, proving how out of it he was. He shifted and the sharp tug he felt inside cut through his haze enough to let him know that if and when he could manage to make the floor be still long enough to stand up, it was not going to be fun. Of course... um... he suddenly realized that a still quite... uh... _firm _Kaname was still between his legs so that was going to make the whole procedure a little more difficult too. With all the speed of a galloping snail, his mind tried to ponder how to surmount that fact, without much success.

"Ow. You're still hard and all... pokey..." he groused softly, seeming to search for the word he wanted without quite finding it. Only then did he finally appear to realize how freely he was commenting on the very embarrassing situation and clapped a hand over his mouth, feeling mortified. The motion made him waver in Kaname's arms again and Kaname's arms tightened reassuringly. "Crap... I feel really drunk or... something," the silver haired boy groaned behind his hand, proving that that the gesture wasn't doing a very good job of stopping his verbal stream of consciousness. "What did you _do _to me...?"

Kaname inhaled deeply as Zero shifted his hips back and forth a little, unintentionally massaging him. "Mmm... something I'd like very much to do again..." he murmured, nibbling the back of Zero's ear. Need was still strong in the pureblood and he was nowhere near ready to be done with his lover, but he was aware he'd been rough and he wanted to make sure Zero was okay, which it seemed like he probably was. The pureblood gave a small, carful thrust and Zero tensed, gasping softly, his fingers digging into the backs of Kaname's hands where they were both wrapped around his waist. The pureblood did it again and got a similarly delicious reaction.

Zero trembled slightly, easily starting to feel aroused again despite himself. The feeling of Kaname moving within him stirred hot, slick tingles of desire in his gut and groin. His happily drugged body was like a tuning fork, vibrating in perfect pitch to Kaname's slightest touch and super-sensitive to anything the pureblood did. Actually, what Zero was experiencing was a little akin to what Kaname almost always felt when Zero touched him, but Zero was less used to this level of intensity because, out respect and concern for his ex-human lover's more fragile body, Kaname was generally more careful with his pheromones than the hunter was with his. Zero, not being a born vampire, really had no idea when he was even giving them off, much less how to control them. But that was one thing about being a vampire which Kaname had never got around to trying to teach Zero... he didn't _want _his lover to hide them. He loved being intoxicated by Zero.

Zero groaned softly as Kaname moved softly and suggestively against him. He wanted the pureblood, wanted him a _lot_, but not like this, not _here_. Once was a thrill, but more than that was making him uncomfortable. What would happen if more people came in? Even if they couldn't see who was in the stall, they would probably be able to tell what was going on. The hunter started to feel vaguely panicky. Panting, he twisted a bit so he could look over his shoulder. He shook his head, trying to straighten and pull away from Kaname a little, even though he really couldn't do either. "No," he said a bit hoarsely. "Enough."

Kaname leaned so he could kiss the beautifully flushed lips while continuing to move his hips gently. "No such thing as enough of you, Zero," he murmured huskily, his hand sliding up under Zero's shirt to tease a nipple as he pushed deep again.

Zero sucked his breath in through gritted teeth, his body trying to betray him again. He felt incredibly good, but it was a spinning, "trippy" type of good that was starting to make him kind of scared. Somewhere in his daze, he realized he really wasn't in a position to make Kaname listen to him, or protest anything the pureblood wanted. Zero teased Kaname about being a control freak, but the truth was he was too a little. They had both been too hurt by events that were out of their hands during their lives to not instinctively seek a certain level of control and feel safer when they had it. Right now Zero had none and although it was arousing, it wasn't making him feel very nice.

His heart skipped a beat as Kaname continued to kiss and caress him coaxingly. "No!" he repeated, unable to keep it from turning into a breathless semi-moan. "Not here... let's g-go... somewhere else..." Zero blinked hard, trying to keep from slurring, but Kaname didn't seem to be paying any attention.

"I'm serious, Kaname, stop," a small hint of desperation crept into his voice. He felt _delicious, _but his head was throbbing, his limbs felt shaky and he could hear many more people in the hallway outside now. It was getting on to lunchtime, meaning that offices would start to empty and there would be lots more traffic coming and going. Zero was really starting to freak out about what would happen if the restroom started to fill up as a result.

The hunter gasped, convulsing slightly as Kaname moved a little more decisively within his throbbing passage, threatening to steal his breath away. "Please..." it was almost a whisper, but it stopped Kaname dead in his tracks.

Honestly, Kaname felt like he might die if he had to pull out of the warm embrace of his lover's body and he felt wonderfully tipsy. He could tell, however, that this time Zero really meant his protests, and one thing Kaname _never _wanted to do was force his lover to do anything against his will.

As carefully as he could, he pulled out of Zero, still supporting him as he half turned Zero in his arms so they could see each other more easily. He kissed Zero gently. "Okay," he murmured. "Okay, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to push."

Zero relaxed and kissed him back softly. It was precious to him that he could always trust Kaname in this regard. It was good to know that despite whatever games they might play sometimes, Kaname did understand and respect him when he honestly said stop, even when Zero was in no condition to enforce his wishes. Honestly, it kind of made Zero want him even more.

"I know," he murmured, leaning against Kaname more heavily than he realized for support. The crook of Kaname's neck looked very inviting and his head felt really heavy. The silver head sank to the pureblood's shoulder, nuzzling against him in a mixture of contentment and a hazy desire for more contact. "S'okay. I want you, just... not here..."

Kaname kissed Zero tenderly, shifting him a little and quickly re-clothing himself. "Of course not, it is kind of... nasty," the pureblood murmured with a small smile. He felt oddly like giggling for no reason in particular and just managed to restrain the urge, realizing he was more out of it himself than he realized. But it felt wonderful not thinking or worrying about anything for a few minutes and having Zero be the only thing he had to focus on - the complete center of his world. "Don't worry, we'll find someplace much better," he promised soothingly. Kaname cleaned Zero up efficiently with some toilet paper, much to Zero's embarrassed chagrin, and pulled his pants back into place.

"Folio," Zero found enough presence of mind to remember and Kaname looked around for a moment before spotting it and picking it up, tucking it under one arm.

Zero tried to move stiffly and although the room didn't wobble so much this time, he found it more painful than he'd expected. He grabbed Kaname's shoulder for support and the pureblood quickly caught him up in his arms. Kaname didn't give him time to be embarrassed about it, because he was quickly kissing, nipping and generally driving the hunter adorably crazy. The pureblood was like an infatuated teenager. He couldn't seem to stop touching Zero. His eyes danced with longing and although Zero scowled and kept sluggishly batting him away, the pureblood's clinginess was infectious.

"Nympho," Zero muttered fondly and Kaname grinned.

"That's usually applied to women, Zero. You seem intent on calling me female names today, should I be concerned?" he teased.

Zero whacked him lightly upside the head as best as he could from his current position and buried his face against Kaname's neck again with a small groan. He felt far too good and far too smashed to be splitting hairs over word usage and he certainly couldn't come up with an appropriate male version for that term. "You're horrible," he groaned.

Kaname could feel the heat radiating from Zero's face against his neck and the brush of the hunter's breath on his skin made him shiver even as he smiled.

With pureblood speed, Kaname ducked out of the restroom, carrying Zero. Just out of it enough to not protest, Zero closed his eyes to keep from getting dizzy by the blur of passing scenery, only opening them again when they stopped a moment or two later at the door to an office. Kaname let them in and shut the door behind them. The room was small, but nicely appointed. A desk and filing cabinets filled the main area with a doorway leading into another equally small room that had more filing cabinets and a cot bed that seemed to be intended for when the occupant of the office was required to work particularly late.

"Kaname, whose office is this?" Zero asked, trying to get a breath and word in edgewise around his lover's hungry kissing.

"I don't know, a broker apparently," Kaname shrugged and started walking them towards the second room. He'd taken a chance that the brokers here kept the same practices as at his office, where they often had beds in the back since sometimes needing to be awake when local human stock exchanges were open for business meant they occasionally kept odd hours.

Zero balked. "You don't _know? _We can't just..."

Kaname chuckled, worrying the hunter's lower lip between his teeth. "I actually own the whole _building, _Zero, don't worry about it."

Zero gave another exasperated cuff on the side of the head, but did not protest as Kaname carried him into the back room. There really didn't seem to be much chance of stopping the pureblood at this point. His urgency was delicious, but at the same time there was a bit of an edge to Kaname's mood. He seemed in some way not fully in control of himself. Zero, however, was far too out of it to notice much, or care.

Kaname laid his lover down carefully on the bed, shrugging off his suit coat and tossing it on one of the filing cabinets. The ex-human was very shortly naked from the waist down, his shirt fully unbuttoned and sliding off his shoulders due to his lover's urgent need to feel his chest and play with his nipples.

Zero tugged Kaname's shirt off over his head. "We're not gonna be able to wear these again, unless we take them all off..." he mumbled, his voice heated even though the suggestion was practical. Their scent charm bracelets protected them to a certain extent, but if they messed their clothes up too much, it was still going to be obvious.

Kaname saw the wisdom of that and swiftly stripped completely while Zero shrugged out of his shirt and vest as well. The cuff buttons and armholes seemed to confuse and vex him mightily for a minute, but he managed it in the end. Then the naked and very aroused pureblood was on top of his lover again, kissing and fondling him insistently. Kaname was obviously adoring, but he seemed in a very aggressive mood today and the sensual attack of his passion swept Zero deliciously off his feet.

Zero felt Kaname settle between his legs, body pressing meaningfully against him and he groaned softly, his face attractively flushed and his eyes appealingly glazy and dilated. "Again?" he muttered, shifting a bit uncertainly on the cool surface of the blanket under him. "Kinda... sore, Kaname..." he murmured hesitantly. He didn't like reminding Kaname of his body's limitations, especially since the past year or so he'd started to realize how much his pureblood lover held back for his sake.

If Kaname's head had been clearer and his desperate need for Zero less intense, he would have taken that as a cue that he needed to back off and explore other ways for them to find pleasure together. But that was not the answer that presented itself to the pureblood's problem-solving brain at this particular moment.

Kaname kissed Zero tenderly, his warm, full lips as gentle as a whisper. "Shh... I won't let it hurt... I want you to feel good. So good, Zero..." he murmured. He leaned carefully, but rather intensely on his lover's senses. Not his will, he would not dream of trespassing into that forbidden region, but he expertly manipulated Zero's sensory perceptions in a way that only vampire lovers who were intimately familiar with one another's bodies could. He didn't want Zero to hurt, so it made sense to make the hurt go away, right?

Had Kaname been thinking more clearly, he might have considered whether or not Zero was going to appreciate being manipulated like this, but somehow at this moment it seemed perfectly sensible. He flooded Zero with pleasure, coaxing the young hunter's body into releasing a potent rush of adrenal chemicals that dulled pain and heightened pleasure to unbelievable levels. He wanted to sooth and override his lover's discomfort, wanted Zero to feel nothing but pleasure. Was that so wrong?

Zero's body arched up against Kaname's, his breath shuddering.

Kaname caught his lover's face gently between his hands, kissing his eyes and his forehead. "Does it feel better?" he murmured.

Zero could only nod, his breath coming fast, head spinning. _Good? It felt freaking orgasmic. _Mixed with the already high pheromone levels, Zero didn't have a chance in hell of resisting, or even wanting to. He well past all reasonable saturation now and feeling extremely compliant.

He moaned softly, pupils dilated so wide the lavender of his iris had all but disappeared as his knees hugged Kaname's hips again invitingly. He felt so incredibly good that Kaname could have done anything to him, just so long as the pureblood kept touching him. He felt like he wanted his lover to hold him forever and he kissed Kaname with achingly intent passion.

Squeezing a good amount of lube into his palm, Kaname slicked himself up quickly before leaning over Zero, spreading his lover's legs and seeking entrance. He was as gentle as he possible, but they didn't have much time, and he didn't want to waste a minute.

Zero groaned sharply through his teeth as Kaname claimed his sore body again. He was pretty raw from last time still, but what Kaname had done to him was making it so that he only noticed it in little waves that came and went. Kaname was obviously trying to be considerate, taking him firmly, but not too fast at first, kissing him with exquisite, breath-stealing tenderness. However, as arousal continued to build and spark between them like a wildfire and sensations surged, demanding to be sated, their motions quickly started to grow rough and urgent again.

Zero was taking too hard a pounding, he should have told Kaname to stop or slow down, but he was far too lost and the thought didn't even come to him. Wrapped up in the sea of pleasure Kaname had drown him in, he was consumed with a need to feel more, to reach the brink of the bliss that was burning crazily through every nerve ending, and he wascompletely unable to realize the cost it was coming at. "More..." he groaned hoarsely, holding onto Kaname, practically clawing him. "Oh God, Kaname, please..."

Kaname should have known better, should have realized how strung out and vulnerable Zero was to him right now. He should have realized that even if Zero was begging him for more, that might not necessarily be what was good for him. But Kaname too was lost himself, and it did not cross his mind either. Zero was pleading for more and he gave it to him.

Zero cried out with each motion, bucking to meet them at first until Kaname was going too fast for him to keep up with. _Shit! It really, __**really **__burned! _He held onto Kaname's shoulders, fingernails accidentally drawing blood as they dug into the pureblood's shoulder blades. His cries turned into soft, shouted curses of agony and delight as Kaname pushed him insanely hard, tearing into his body with merciless force that somehow still managed to please.

Kaname was not really aware that he was pushing the envelope so far. He just needed Zero. He wanted him, he had to feel him completely until it felt as if their bodies had physically become one. Zero was everything to him. Zero was the only thing that made the demons inside him fall still. When he was with Zero all the bleeding, ragged edges inside him stopped tearing against one another. When he was with Zero, he blessedly thought of nothing and no one else. And Kaname needed that. He needed it so badly he almost cried from the bliss and relief.

Kaname came first this time, crying out as he bucked his release into his lover's body. He pumped Zero urgently in his fist at the same time, making sure he wasn't far behind. Zero all but screamed, his body convulsing under Kaname's as pleasure seared them both.

After that, time became blurry for Zero and all he was aware of from within the sea of hazy pleasure he'd surrendered to were Kaname's ardent hands, passionate kisses and the burning sensation of his possession, over and over as the pureblood made deeply passionate, urgent love to him several more times, coaxing sheer, wanton bliss from his body until Zero really thought he was going to pass out. Like a man at a party who realizes he's had too much and yet keeps drinking anyway, knowing the consequences, Zero held close to Kaname, caressing, kissing, encouraging him, pushing back against him, wanting every touch as much as he wanted his next breath.

After a time, Kaname finally rolled to the side, gently disengaging from his lover's overused body and cuddling him close. The pureblood was too exhausted to do much but he stroked Zero's hair tenderly. Zero was too exhausted and out of it to do _anything _so he just lay there, panting raggedly for breath and swimming in a blissful, semi-conscious state.

Kaname felt Zero trembling softly and pulled the cot's light blanket out from under their bodies and over them instead. The pureblood realized he was trembling too. He stroked Zero's hair and held him protectively close. He felt _amazing _after having been able to spend all the pent up energy and need for release inside him. Zero was incredible. Zero had been everything he needed him to be. As he kissed his lover's sweaty, tousled hair, he felt a curl of concern twining around his heart now that his head was clearing a little. He hoped it had been just as fulfilling for Zero, even though he knew things had gotten a little wild. His lover had been everything he wanted, but he hoped that he had been what _Zero_ wanted too. He always wanted to please him.

Kaname's concern eased a little and a small smile tugged at his lips when he looked down and saw that Zero had fallen asleep against his chest with a faint, contented smile on his damp, flushed face. They had to leave soon for his afternoon meetings, but there was no way he was going to wake Zero up just yet, so he let him rest, gazing up at the ceiling above them silently.

In the stillness of the room, with the reassuring sounds of Zero's breathing and heartbeat beside him, he pondered the weird moment he'd had earlier. He'd been having a lot of weird moments lately, but this was the first time when the images he'd seen truly didn't make sense in any context that he could comprehend. Takuma's inexplicable presence in the flashback, if flashback it was, disturbed him deeply. Was he really cracking up so much that his mind was now inventing things, or at least severely mixing them up? How weak and pathetic was that? What the _hell_ was wrong with him anyway? Sure, he was under a lot of pressure, more than he could even explain to Zero, but it was his own fault for letting himself get into this situation... _again. _

Kaname sighed silently. It frustrated him that he was being put on the wrong foot by something that had happened so long ago. For years that which now haunted him had been merely one of the many painful experiences in his past that he preferred not to think about. He'd honestly never thought it would be anymore than that. It hadn't even fully crossed his mind for years now. It was just one more mistake among many. One more set of invisible scars to live with. Surely, it had not been as hideous as losing his parents or losing Yuki had been. No hurt that was only physical and affected him alone could ever live up to that kind of pain.

Or so he had thought. But the instant he heard that voice on the phone over a week ago his long peace had ended and everything had changed. Everything.

...

The day had already been going poorly. Zero was overdue to return from his mission and the pureblood felt like he was in some kind of withdrawal. Knowing his lover had already been hurt once was not improving Kaname's mood. Then he arrived at the office to find that in the past 12 hours his stealthy, long-term acquisition of Mission Oil stock had gone from a sure thing to being suddenly in jeopardy as assets disappeared under his feet. Several of his overseas shadow companies had been placed under financial attack and board members had vanished mysteriously.

He knew at once that it meant their actions had been discovered. Naturally, he had contingency plans in place and quickly brought them to bear, but he knew that the real battle was just beginning now. That was confirmed when he'd received the severed head of one of the missing board members in a box in the afternoon post. In the human world they joked about such things. In the vampire world, it was an occasional reality. Kaname had _not _been pleased. He did not countenance doing business in that manner and it infuriated him.

A little while later, the phone call came through from Orion International. He'd known who it was before he picked up, but all the preparation in the world apparently hadn't readied him for the cold chill that washed down his spine upon hearing that deep, cool, deceptively pleasant voice on the other end of the line. The voice belonged to Nasser Ardon, head of Orion.

_"Kaname, it's so good to talk to you again. Did you get my little gift?" _

Kaname remained expressionless, glad that the phone line could not convey the tense set of his shoulders or the disapproving knit of his brows. "Yes, I did, Nasser. I found it rather in bad taste." He returned the casual insult of addressing the caller by his first name only, even if he did not like the familiarity that it implied.

The voice on the other end of the line sounded amused. _"Well I'll be honest, I always found your taste a little questionable. But since you're meddling in my affairs again, I'm guessing you want my attention, hm?" _

Kaname knew he could protest that his interest in Mission Oil had started before he'd known who else was also interested, but that would sound weak. He knew better than to sound weak to this man. He could afford nothing but confidence and arrogance as befit his blood and his status. He was not a child anymore.

"And judging by your... _gift... _I'm guessing I've got it," Kaname replied smoothly, allowing himself to sound a little amused as well, even if the idea of capturing the other vampire's attention was not the least bit attractive to him. He knew how to play the game.

_"Oh, you do, Kaname. You should know what a _special _place you have in my regard. Naturally, anything involving you gets my full and undivided attention." _It was a velvety threat and they both knew it. _"I'm pleasantly surprised that you've chosen to challenge me again so soon. It's only been a few years, hasn't it? But then I do lose track of time occasionally..."_

Kaname knew the older vampire was subtly but intentionally emphasizing the vast age difference between them, clearly equating Kaname's youth with lesser experience.

"Really? I had no idea you were getting so senile. This should be easier than I thought," Kaname returned the taunt smoothly with one of his own.

There was a chuckle on the other side of the line. _"Oh, that sounds like a challenge. Maybe we should make another little wager on the outcome, hm?" _

Kaname had the sudden, sinking feeling that he'd been verbally maneuvered and intentionally backed into a corner. _Damn! _He felt his palm growing clammy against the phone receiver and pressed his lips into a tight line. He'd already learned the hard way that gambling with this man was akin to dancing with the devil.

_"Unless of course, you're too scared after what happened last time," _the smooth, mocking voice on the other end of the line purred when Kaname did not reply. _"Although, I do believe I warned you not to challenge me again until you were sure you could win. So... if you're sure, then where's the danger in a little wager? And if you're _not_ sure..." _Kaname could _hear _the sadistic smile that he could not see. _"Then I do believe I failed to teach you your lesson quite as well as I thought I did." _

Kaname's heart was pounding in his chest and he was silently re-living memories he'd not thought of in almost ten years. He was glad that the phone was not sensitive enough to transmit the sound of his pounding pulse.

He forced a careless little laugh that he did not feel. "Nice try, Nasser. But you can drop the melodrama. The truth is, since I already intend to take Mission Oil, you just don't have anything I want." Last time he'd not realized what he was getting into, this time, he knew better.

Nasser seemed unperturbed. _"Oh, I think I might. Seems to me a little while ago, you were very interested in tracking down information regarding a certain drug or patent or something... RH3-211, wasn't it?" _he said carelessly, as if attempting to recall the information. It was an act though, Kaname was quite sure the other vampire knew exactly what he was talking about and had doubtless reviewed any and all information he had before making this phone call.

Kaname felt his blood chill again, but for a different reason this time. RH3-211 was the only solid clue he had ever found regarding who had poisoned and ultimately killed Yuki. Even with all the time that had passed since then and with the assistance of the Sato's pharmaceutical connections, he'd never been able to find out anything further which didn't turn into a dead end or a fake lead eventually. He'd never given up, but as time passed, it was becoming frustratingly clear that without new leads, the mystery might never be resolved. Someone had cleaned up far too thoroughly.

_"Had something to do with the death of a little thrall you were fond of, didn't it? The Satos became very interested in it shortly thereafter, on your behalf, no doubt," _Nasser was still talking. _"Really, I'm somewhat hurt you never thought to come to me. I could have saved you a lot of time, if you'd asked nicely." _

Kaname's jaw tensed sharply and a raw knot of fury fisted in his chest at the other vampire's careless words. If there was anywhere he _didn't_ want to go with this particular man, it was over the ground surrounding Yuki's death. It did not surprise him, however, that Nasser was aware of what had happened and of his own consequent interest in the unusual method of the murder. Kaname suspected that the other man's earlier words about having a _special interest_ in him were not idle chatter. The elder vampire had probably had assets keeping him under surveillance for years. He'd certainly had some of his people watching Nasser. He didn't doubt for a moment though, that any information Nasser might have would come at a very steep price. That was doubtless why the other vampire had already sat on it for this long, waiting for just such an occasion when it was useful for him to trot it out as bait.

"I don't know, that's kind of old news, Nasser," Kaname forced himself to sound casual and disinterested although it was like chewing on glass to do it. "What could you tell me about RH3-211 that I don't already know?"

_"About RH3-211 itself? Probably not much," _the voice on the other end of the line drawled with grating carelessness. _"As I understand it you are already quite familiar with that and it's pretty boring in and of itself. But let's drop the pretense. You don't care about the drug, you want to know who made it and, more importantly, who gave it to your pretty thrall, am I right?"_

"She was _not_ my thrall," Kaname said it before he could stop himself and he immediately kicked himself hard both for the words and for the much too telling strain of anger in his voice. He'd just given away far too much, even if Nasser had probably already known. Kaname had never made much of a secret of his feelings for Yuki after all, and the other vampire was most likely intentionally needling him.

Nasser's delighted chuckle told Kaname that he had indeed made quite a stumble. That little outburst had just cost him any leverage he had in attempting to deny or downplay the value he would place on the information the other vampire was holding. _Damn! _

_"Oh, all right. Your _girlfriend_, then," _Nasser managed to make the word sound extremely condescending. _"In any case, I don't know about you, but I'd want to know who was responsible, if someone had touched _my_ property like that. You really shouldn't let anyone get away with these kinds of things unpunished. People might get to thinking you were weak, and they could take anything they wanted from you..." _There was a dark undertone in his voice that made Kaname's skin crawl, but his heart was aching so sharply that it almost obscured it. Almost.

"Are you trying to tell me that you _know _who was behind it?" Kaname asked flatly, through playing games.

Nasser's laughter was smooth and chilling. _"Of course that's what I'm telling you. Really, Kaname, try not to be so slow. I told you, you interest me. I've been... shall we say, keeping an eye on you from a distance ever since our last encounter. I'll wager I know more about what happened than you do. I can __**give**_ _you the people responsible for that attack all tied up with a pretty bow, along with plenty of proof lest you are plebian enough to think I'm lying or making it up. I think the who and why of the matter would be quite an _interesting_ surprise for you. It's all terribly ironic and a little tragic, really. You truly never know who's a friend and who's an enemy anymore, you know?" _

If the teasing hints were meant to engage Kaname's interest, they unfortunately succeeded with a vengeance. He did not doubt that Nasser did in fact have the information he claimed. Nasser knew better than to lie about something like this, and besides, to offer false information would have gone against the other vampire's old school code of twisted ethics. It was all Kaname could do not to strangle the phone. He wanted to _demand _to be told everything right now, but he knew that all that would get him was more condescending laughter. Nasser had played his game too perfectly to be impressed or swayed by childish tantrums.

Kaname's mind was already racing ahead, spinning with the new possibilities and implications that had just been opened to him. If Nasser knew who was behind the attack from the time when it happened then that made him suddenly wonder if it was the original attacker who had done such a frustratingly good job covering their tracks as he had always supposed, or if it was actually _Nasser_, hiding the trail after them so that he would someday have quite the ultimate bargaining chip play whenever it suited him.

Kaname supposed he might never know for sure, but it certainly made a terrible kind of sense. He'd suspected many different groups and factions over the years, including the Vampire Council and the Hunter's Association, whom he still considered as real possibilities. There were many other suspects he'd considered and dismissed because of their lack of influence or resources. All along he'd felt sure that the absolute void of information or solid proof which he'd encountered were the tell-tale fingerprints of someone or some organization with a lot of power and some very clever and pro-active minds. Nasser qualified for that role extremely well.

Kaname felt momentarily staggered by the impact of this information and the way it forced him to re-evaluate everything he had learned and thought he knew. It was quite possible he'd been chasing down all the wrong paths because of the conclusions to which the expert cover up had led him. If Nasser was indeed the one who had done the cleanup just to preserve the advantage of the information that he held, then it was possible that it could have been someone much less powerful and not as clever who had masterminded the actual murder itself. This one idea changed everything, flinging open a whole new universe of suspects and possible motives. Kaname was furious with himself that the possibility of the attack and the cover up having been the work of two different hands had not occurred to him sooner.

His gut filled with seething rage, both at himself and even more so at Nasser for possibly tampering so severely with the evidence and causing several years of wasted time and effort. Yet even as fury filled him, Kaname knew it was something he himself might have done in a different situation, if he had felt that the leverage was truly worth the effort. The first rule of getting the advantage in any situation was to be sure that you had something the other party valued highly and could get nowhere else. Nasser had found that bait and he was dangling it now, knowing full well that he already had Kaname hooked. This realization made ice mingle uneasily alongside the hot rage in the young pureblood's stomach.

_"Are you still there, Kaname? Have we been cut off?" _Nasser's hated voice cut into the younger vampire's whirling thoughts. The mocking tone said he was already quite aware that there was nothing wrong with their connection.

"Mission Oil must be more important to you than I realized, if you're trotting this information out now," Kaname said quietly, struggling to keep his composure and maneuver as best he could from his severely disadvantaged position. He realized that trying to pretend Nasser didn't have a huge piece of leverage over him was a waste of time that would fool neither of them, so he changed tactics, wondering why Nasser was choosing to play his trump card at this moment, since he'd already waited this long.

_"Well, I won't deny that it would be a nice acquisition," _Nasser said casually, and Kaname couldn't quite be sure if he was prevaricating, or if that was the truth. _"One that I would hate to lose. But I'm not offering a trade, Kaname," _he pointed out. _"You can back out of the Mission Oil fight any time you want and I'll be happy, but it won't gain you anything other than knowing you've lost to me _again_. No... the information I have isn't for sale at any price. That's so boring and mundane, there's no excitement, no sport in that. __**However**__, I will make a __**wager**__ of it. If you win Mission Oil away from me, and by that I mean you obtain enough ownership of it to suit your designs and keep the company in An'swala, then I will give you all the names, facts and proof you need." _

Kaname's throat felt dry. He understood now. Nasser may or may not have some kind of vested interest in Mission Oil, but the business deal itself was merely the chess board and the playing pieces with which they would duel. It was the challenge of the wager that interested the elder vampire. Nasser wanted a kind of replay of ten years ago, and he knew he had to have a pretty enticing prize on offer in order to get Kaname to risk the consequences of gambling with him ever again.

"And if I lose?" Kaname said quietly, already knowing the answer, but knowing better than to leave any vague loopholes for his opponent to manipulate. He'd learned a few things over the years, after all.

_"You know what will happen if you lose," _Nasser's voice was laden with an unmistakable hint of anticipation. _"I will get to choose your punishment for failure, and exact it from you in any way I see fit. But let's keep things interesting and make the stakes a little higher, shall we? Let's say you'll come out here and stay with me for two weeks this time... unless you _choose_ to stay longer, of course." _The amused seduction in the tone made Kaname feel ill. _"I should mention, naturally, that since I have now given you a huge lead already by letting you know I have this information, if you choose to reject the wager, I will destroy the proof that I possess and I will never again speak of it to anyone." _Nasser made it clear that this was a one-time offer. If Kaname refused, the chance would be completely gone, and Nasser would do everything in his power to make sure that the young pureblood _never _found the answers he sought.

Kaname realized he was starting to hyperventilate and quickly attempted to regain control. Nasser _wanted _to unnerve him, he could _not _give him that satisfaction! All his instincts warned him against entering this kind of mad bargain with the other vampire, especially when he'd already been burned once before by Nasser and his games. But he also realized that the deal was just too tempting to pass up. He already had a very firm grip on the Mission Oil situation, and given the number of gambits he had in place that he had yet to play, he might just have a firmer grip than Nasser realized. He had a very realistic chance of winning this game, so all he really had to do, was weigh the cost of the bet and decide if it was one he could afford in case the worst should happen and he lost.

Yuki's killers balanced against the possibility of two weeks in hell. It was a no-brainer, really. He would have spent any amount of time in hell to be able to get his claws into those bastards. Risking two weeks of his life that would harm no one but himself did not seem like too high a price to place in the balance. All it meant, was that he simply could not afford to lose, under any circumstances.

...

Kaname swallowed carefully, his fingers combing softly through Zero's hair. He found the touch comforting. Ever since that conversation, the past had ceased resting quietly where it belonged. Kaname was haunted by the memory of the price he had paid years ago, the last time he had crossed Nasser when he had been too young and too stupidly innocent to realize what he was getting into. It invaded his dreams and even his waking moments until it was slowly gaining a suffocating grip on his life that he hated intensely.

He wasn't sure if it was the past, or the very real possibility of the past repeating itself again in the present that was making things so difficult for him now. Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't been such a coward when he was younger. Maybe half his problems were self-inflicted. Maybe... maybe if he remembered everything that had happened and not just the first bit...

Kaname sucked his breath in and clenched his eyes shut, feeling the uneasy stirring inside him that had been bothering him ever since the nightmares started, the restless echoes of whatever lay behind the door in his mind. Whatever it was that Kaname wasn't ready to face. Whatever it was that he might very well have to face all over again in the not too distant future. Unease churned inside him, threatening to destroy the peace of the moment.

Kaname felt Zero stir and his he opened his eyes again, forcing himself to focus on the present and the more immediate past. Things had not gone well since his phone conversation with Nasser. They had not gone as badly as they might, but they had not gone as good as he could have hoped either. At this point, the chips could fall either way. Kaname honestly feared the thought of having to pay up if he lost. Not only because of what it would mean for him, but because of the inevitable confession it was going to force him to make to Zero.

He was ashamed to admit it, but he'd not been thinking of the hunter or how he might feel about the situation when he'd made the loathsome wager. He'd thought that even if he lost, it would hurt no one but himself... but he realized he had been thinking like he was still alone. Things were different now, or should be. His body wasn't just his, it belonged to Zero too, and now along with everything else, he feared hurting and betraying his lover by what he had done, or what he might be forced to do. He was afraid... he was very much afraid, that Zero would never understand.

Kaname pressed his eyes closed. Everything was going so wrong, it wasn't supposed to be this way, but then, he shouldn't be surprised, should he? Everything had a tendency to go wrong as soon as Nasser Ardon was involved, and Kaname would have done well to remember that. It was like he hadn't learned a thing the first time around and was possibly doomed to repeat his own mistakes. But at the same time... he still didn't know what else he could have done. His opponent had had all the angles covered, leaving only one path open if Kaname wanted to try avoiding putting himself in check. The problem with that kind of scenario was that if he couldn't outmaneuver his opponent and force him to make a wrong move somewhere, Kaname could be fairly certain the path being left open would lead straight into a trap.


	8. Love Hurts

_A/N: Aaand, the story continues to write itself so that events take ten times longer to unfold in each chapter than I expected them to, resulting in another looong one. XD Sorry about the sort of cliffy, but nobody worry or freak out too much, 'kay? :) The title of this chapter was partially inspired by an Incubus song of the same name. The whole verse from the song goes: "Love hurts, but sometimes it's a good hurt" which in a way it is kind of fitting for this chapter. Don't forget to check my bio for where to find my individual review responses. :)_

**Chapter Eight: "****Love Hurts****"**

Zero groaned softly as he started to awaken. Now that Kaname wasn't leaning on his senses or releasing those incredible pheromones anymore, he kind of felt like crap. The agonizing, throbbing burn between his legs told him they'd overdone it, by a _lot_.

"_Sheesh..._ Kaname... you really are a twit, you know that?" he groaned somewhat groggily, pressing the side of his face against Kaname's chest and trying to decide if shifting would make him hurt more or less. "You didn't have to try out for the Olympics, you know," he grumbled. _Especially with my body... _

Kaname kissed the top of his head, his hand caressing Zero's shoulder. To be honest, he wasn't totally aware of just _how _hard he'd pushed Zero, not yet. "I missed you... can you blame me?" he murmured fondly.

"Yes," Zero replied truculently. He stiffly rolled a little further onto his side and slid his leg over, finding it more comfortable to rest his thigh atop Kaname's. He lay his hand on the pureblood's chest, over his heart. The hunter controlled his breathing carefully to deal with the pain. He was being a good sport about it, but it was actually pretty bad. _He __**really**__ hurt... Kaname __**so **__owed him double for this._

Zero sighed softly, inhaling Kaname's scent and finding it soothing as he tried to clear his head. He felt a little more vulnerable than he liked, even though he knew he was safe here in his lover's arms. It wasn't really so much on account of the wildness of their lovemaking, as it was the fact that Kaname had "drugged" him so deeply that parts of what had just happened were actually nothing but a big, erotic blur in his memory. It was an incredibly delicious blur, mind you - one that made heat slither in his gut even though the exact details were elusive, but it was still a bit disconcerting. He could honestly say he had wanted everything that happened, yet the fact remained that he'd had about as much control of himself as if he'd been given GHB or something of that nature.

The deep vulnerability that that demonstrated was taking almost as much effort to suppress as his pain was. There was a time not so very long ago when Zero would have been both terrified and furious at waking after having had his senses stolen from him like that and having been put so deeply under the biological spell that his pureblood lover could so easily weave. He and Kaname had been through a lot together though, and Zero knew he could trust _this _pureblood even if no other. Still, the purely hunter side of the young ex-human was recoiling in horror from what he had let happen and it wasn't helping his mood.

Zero was trying not to let Kaname see what he was feeling, however, and for once the pureblood actually seemed unobservant enough for the hunter to get away with it. Zero was very conscious of

how hard it had been to get the pureblood into any kind of intimacy the past week and he was making a huge effort not to act in a manner that would push his lover away from him again. Kaname being an insatiable ass who didn't know when to stop he could deal with, Kaname pulling away from him and not responding to his touches, he couldn't.

So he just focused on breathing, letting Kaname's nearness and the slow return of his own mental clarity calm him. It wasn't like it was the first time they'd pushed their limits together after all. Even if... well, okay, even if something did feel a little off for some reason. Zero wasn't sure what, exactly, but perhaps it was just that Kaname had seemed somehow a little _too _needy and demanding, almost to the point of not entirely being in control of himself.

The more he considered it, the more he realized that the reason it troubled him was because it reminded him a little of the way it had been back when Kaname was still trying to deal with the ragged ends of his broken bond with Asato Ichijo. It had taken more than half a year after the elder Ichijo's death before that severed, unwanted connection had completely settled down. There had been times back then when Kaname seemed to just _need _Zero with an almost blind intensity and things could get pretty passionate and occasionally a little scary, although Zero had stubbornly tried to never let that emotion show. Their relationship had been in a very uncertain, nascent state back then. They had been lovers, but their connection had been more physical than emotional. They had both been somewhat guarded and wary of showing too much of their hearts, which made it hard to compare to the very different way things were now. Zero suspected he would have an entirely different view of those past situations if he were to revisit them now, with the deep level of love and trust that the pureblood held in his heart.

As far as Zero knew, it had been a long time since Kaname had felt any direct ill effects from that old bond and he hadn't expected it would ever rear its head again. Yet today, there had been a similar kind of urgency and desperation in the pureblood's eyes and actions. A similar perception that the pureblood's sanity was somehow tied to his lover and that for whatever reason, Kaname really couldn't stop himself even if he'd wanted to. It worried the hunter. Zero remembered what Kaname had said last night about being afraid of hurting him and he frowned slightly. These were all clear indications that something was going on, something which Kaname was probably trying to keep from him in a misguided effort to protect him or some such stupid thing. _Idiot. _

Zero tilted his head up, shifting a little so he could see the vampire he was pillowed upon.

Kaname was still caressing his hair gently, but the pureblood was staring at the ceiling. He looked kind of distant and troubled, which added to Zero's concern, because Kaname was usually all happy smiles and contented cuddling after sex.

"Hey, Kaname... what's up with you?" Zero murmured quietly, his fingers tracing light patterns against Kaname's slender, but well defined pectoral muscles.

Kaname seemed to jerk back from wherever he'd been and quickly smiled as his gaze returned to Zero. His smile was genuine, and yet... it didn't quite reach his eyes. He raised his eyebrows in a puzzled expression. "What?"

Zero gave his shoulder a small, reproving kiss. "Don't give me that. I know you too well. There's something more than business troubling you, isn't there? I want to know what's going on."

The hunter was utterly surprised to see steel doors slam down behind Kaname's normally open and expressive eyes. Kaname always hid from the world, but he rarely hid from _him _anymore_. _

Kaname's gaze flicked back to the ceiling, his body language no longer relaxed. "I already told you what's going on. I'm working on a big deal that's taking a lot of time and energy, that's all. You _know_ that." His heart was pounding and he tried to contain it. He immediately knew he'd said the wrong thing. Up to this point, he hadn't actually lied to Zero, just omitted the full truth. He knew this knee jerk reaction was terrible and only going to make Zero more suspicious, and he was unfortunately quite right.

Zero was surprised again. Not only was Kaname unexpectedly defensive, but... he was lying to him. He didn't know why, but he just knew he was. That made him both hurt and a little angry. Stupid pureblood and his secrets... if Kaname was hurting or in trouble, Zero damn well ought to know about it. How else could he help him?

Zero rolled onto his back, physically withdrawing from the pureblood. "Kaname, I've seen you stressed over business before and it is not like this. Something has you rattled and out of control-"

Kaname sat up abruptly. "I am _not _rattled and there is _nothing _wrong with my control!" he interrupted, his voice now chilly and indignant. He knew he was handling this all wrong, but being angry at himself only made him even more edgy. His lover had caught him flat-footed, he'd reacted badly and now he felt cornered. Zero was far too stubborn to let him talk his way out of this easily, not after having witnessed this kind of reaction. Kaname had already muffed his chance at diffusing his lover's questions and had instead only fueled his certainty that there was something wrong. _Crap! Why was he always screwing up?!_ In his current state of mind, feeling more trapped than he already was made him almost physically ill.

Zero had obviously struck a nerve, but it was not in his nature to back down, especially when Kaname was being stupid. He pushed up onto his elbows, wincing sharply and gritting his teeth. "Oh really? Nothing wrong with your control? So then, you fully _intended _to drug me into a stupor and use me so hard that now I barely sit up and even just _breathing _hurts?"

Kaname's gaze shot back to Zero and there was such a flare of sheer horror and agony in the momentarily swimming brown depths that Zero almost regretted his words, even though they were true. It wasn't as if he was upset with the pureblood over any of what had occurred between them physically. It was Kaname trying to pretend like nothing was bothering him and apparently thinking Zero was stupid enough to believe such a transparent lie which had the hunter pissed.

Kaname actually looked like he'd stopped breathing for a moment. Zero being angry with him over what had happened was awful enough, but the thought that he'd hurt his lover that badly and very possibly taken advantage of his vulnerable state to force him into something he hadn't really wanted was utterly devastating. _You sick, screwed up bastard. You shouldn't even touch him. You'll ruin him. You'll hurt him and soil him because you're so messed up and dirty. You knew better. You KNEW you shouldn't, but you let your damn libido do the thinking, didn't you? _

Kaname was so hurt, frustrated and guilty that he wanted to cry. He had been denying himself for days, even drugging himself, trying to stay away from Zero to avoid hurting him... but he'd been too weak. He needed Zero too much, and he'd done exactly what he hadn't wanted to do.

_"We're alike, you and I. We want the same things, Kaname. You'll understand when you're older..." _The words were suddenly there in Kaname's mind. He knew the voice, the cruel smile that went with them. Ever since this _damn _situation with Mission Oil began, he'd not been able to get that face out of his head and now the dark eyes mocked him from across the years with how right they were.

Kaname found himself breathing too fast. He found himself in a place he hated and he didn't know how to get out. He was lying to Zero, hiding things his lover had a right to know, he was hurting him... how _could _he?! But... but he didn't know what to do. His chest felt so tight he couldn't seem to get air and his mind was so blank he couldn't think. He knew he should apologize, should make sure Zero was okay and try to make things right... but there was the condemning voice inside him that said it could never really be right, because the pureblood himself was just too _wrong. _Even when he tried to escape... he just hurt the one person in the world he wanted _never _to hurt. _You're just like __**him**__. You hurt everyone who trusts you. _

As if his emotional turmoil had created a momentary crack in some invisible dam, Kaname felt a strange, almost painful and disorienting rushing sensation. He resisted the urge to clutch his head as weird images that didn't make sense flashed across his mind, some familiar, some foreign.

_Dark, almond colored eyes dancing with cruel amusement. The ornate, oppressive dining hall at Ichijo's house. A katana flashed in the moonlight. White, fluttering curtains. That shocked, hurt look again in a pair of young, familiar green eyes. Takuma turned away and ran down the hall. An overwhelming sense of danger and the helplessness. Takuma fell, landing in a crimson puddle that seemed to swallow him, before spreading out and becoming an obscenely red, laughing mouth. Darkness. Pain. Rage. Blood. Blood on Kaname's hands, in his hair, on his face. Someone whimpered in pain and terror. He felt horribly guilty and he didn't know why. Blood on his hands that somehow filled him with horror. Was it his? Was it someone else's? Whose...? Did he really not know, or did he not __**want **__to know?_

Kaname blinked hard, his heart pounding. He didn't understand what was happening to him or what he'd just seen. Some of it was obviously impossible and almost dream-like in its imagery, but most of it felt horribly more like an echo of some twisted reality rather than a hallucination. The weird, distorted ghost memories shook him deeply and worsened his mentally and emotionally unstable state dramatically. Guilt for the present mingled with an incomprehensible, phantom guilt from the past and the room almost tipped out of focus.

Kaname couldn't face Zero, couldn't face what he'd done or the questions Zero was asking, they apparently raised things inside the pureblood that shook his control, and right now, he obviously could desperately not afford to be any more out of control than he already was. He slid quickly out of bed, snatching his clothes and dressing swiftly, without a word. He was trembling. He could hardly think around the rushing in his head. He needed to escape whatever was going on inside him that felt like it was threatening his sanity. He needed to get away from Zero. To stay away from him before he hurt him more. _Oh God... _

"Kaname, don't do this, talk to me," Zero half demanded, half pleaded in frustration, grimacing in pain as he struggled to sit up. Leaning against the wall by the head of the bed, he swung his feet over the side with difficulty. He'd just seen something very strange in Kaname's eyes. Something that he didn't understand, but which scared the living daylights out of him.

Kaname was already dressed and heading for the door. "I have meetings to attend. You don't have to come. I'll send for the car to take you home." The pureblood's voice was slightly hoarse, but also far more cold than he'd intended.

Zero punched the wall by the bed with the side of his fist in frustration. The plaster and wallboard cracked like an egg shell, making his arm ache dully, but he didn't notice. It _hurt _when Kaname pulled away from him like this and the pureblood acting so chilly to him after what they'd just done left him feeling pretty empty and desolate.

"Damn it! What the hell is wrong with you?" he shouted hoarsely, struggling angrily with himself because he wanted to get over there, grab Kaname and pound some sense into him, but his body was protesting too harshly. "You freaking sadistic moron! I'm not some frigging house pet you can screw around with and then just send home!"

Kaname froze, turning back to Zero with wildly haunted eyes that held none of the coldness his voice had a moment ago, nor even any of the anger that Zero had expected. "No, you're not. You're _so much_ more than that, Zero. You are a complete treasure whose value is priceless," Kaname's anguished voice hitched. "You are patient and forgiving far past what I ever deserve and you deserve so much better from me than I can ever give you. I'm sorry." The pureblood looked like he was on the verge of tears and it checked Zero's anger a little, although it only increased his worry.

Kaname turned again for the door and Zero forced himself to his feet, grabbing the nearest filing cabinet for support. He didn't make it more than a step or two. Pain shot through him, he cried out and doubled over. Unable to hold his feet, Zero tumbled to his knees, one hand slapping to the carpet to keep from going all the way down, fingers curling desperately into the tight weave. He gave a short, aborted little sob that he couldn't choke back in time. The burning between his legs was intense and distinctly humiliating too. _Shit. _

Kaname was by his side in an instant. The pureblood's haunted eyes were definitely swimming with tears now as he quickly and gently curled his arms around his lover, supporting him and embracing him tenderly. Zero hadn't intended it, but if he'd wanted to keep Kaname from leaving, he'd done the right thing. This was definitely the one thing the pureblood could never have walked away from - Zero in pain, needing him.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Kaname murmured softly, his hot tears falling on Zero's neck as he lifted him tenderly and carried him back to the bed, setting the hunter down and pulling the blanket over his lap. Kaname realized that Zero was leaving a small trail of blood and guilty self-hatred sunk its claws even deeper. _How could he?! He was such a monster. Oh, Zero..._

"Don't you _ever _walk out on me when I can't follow," Zero rasped, his voice hoarse with anger and pain. The anger started to soften a little though under the earnest and continual flow of Kaname's repentant tears and he finally tangled his fingers in the pureblood's raven hair, petting him gently. He knew Kaname wasn't acting like himself, but damn it, he wanted to know _why. _

Kaname gently hugged and caressed Zero, relieved a little when the hunter didn't pull away from him, but instead slowly embraced him as well. "I'm so sorry, Zero," he kept apologizing. He didn't know what else to say. He'd failed Zero in so many ways it was staggering, and he was still failing him this very moment, which made the pureblood's tears fall faster and hotter.

Kaname tipped Zero's head to his neck and softly begged him to drink. With only a little urging, Zero did. He felt too much like crap to not, and anyway, he wanted to feel close to Kaname. Kaname seemed to finally settle a little, feeling a bit better and more stable as Zero drank slowly but deeply from his neck. It felt right when he was doing this. It felt right when he could be something that his lover needed, it made him feel for a few minutes like he was worth something.

Zero could clearly read Kaname's remorse and inner turmoil in his blood as he drank, but everything else was closed off to him. Kaname's mind was shut tight and although Zero could read distress in Kaname's blood, he could not discern the cause. That hurt a little. He understood that Kaname was intentionally shielding against him so he would not get too much insight out of the contact. Whatever Kaname was hiding, the pureblood intended to keep his secrets.

Kaname tenderly stroked Zero's hair, laying soft kisses against it while he drank. When Zero finally finished, he licked the wounds closed attentively and then leaned his head on Kaname's shoulder for a minute or two. He felt much better, as usual. In a few minutes, Kaname's pure blood would have healed most of his more worrisome hurts. He'd be a little sore for a while yet, but it would be a more normal kind of tenderness and nothing he couldn't deal with. This was what they usually did after things got rough, it was what let Zero keep up with a pureblood lover without repercussions and what let him take it in stride when their more vampiric desires got the better of them in bed. The fact that Kaname had almost walked away from him without offering it shook Zero a little and spoke volumes of how disturbed the pureblood was.

Kaname was still whispering broken, heartfelt apologies and Zero couldn't take it anymore. He shifted and pressed a gentle, but firm kiss on the pureblood's lips, hushing him. "Stop," he whispered, his voice much steadier now. "If you're apologizing about the... you know... then just stop."

Kaname knew he had so much more than that alone to apologize for, but even drowning in guilt, he couldn't help thinking it was a little adorable that Zero didn't want to actually use the word 'sex' in a sentence apparently. How someone could be such an eager, talented and sometimes downright wicked delight in bed and yet remain such a shy prude at other times was one of the amusing and admittedly delicious contradictions that Kaname loved about the hunter.

"You wanted it, I wanted it, I'll be fine in a few minutes," Zero continued quietly. "If it makes you feel better, I promise I am going to come up with fitting payback later, 'kay?" The soft, wry glint in his eyes said he knew that was more of an incentive than a deterrent to Kaname. The pureblood _liked _being 'punished' when it was of the pleasurable variety. Zero knew if he truly wanted to hurt his lover, all he had to do was withdraw his love and deny Kaname any signs of affection. Sometimes, it felt like Kaname depended on his affection like a plant depended on sunlight. Zero may be upset with his lover, but he certainly _didn't_ want to truly hurt him, and he was not nearly that cruel.

Kaname gave a small, contrite nod, fully prepared to do anything Zero wanted of him to atone for his sins.

Zero sighed, stroking Kaname's hair again. Kaname was easy to get upset with, but almost impossible to _stay _upset with. "So it's okay, all right?" He kissed Kaname again softly. There was that strange, almost broken, vulnerable side of Kaname showing again that always got to Zero's heart. Occasionally, it was like there was something inside the pureblood that was so raw, Zero ached to sooth it. He just never quite knew how, or what it was. It frustrated him sometimes.

Kaname wrapped his arms around Zero, hugging him tightly and burying his face against Zero's neck. He gave his head a small shake. "It's not all right," he whispered faintly. "It's _not _all right for me to hurt you just because I can." The last sentence ended in a soft sob.

A pained expression flittered across Zero's face and he sighed again, holding Kaname and cradling his head in one hand as he felt the pureblood's rapid, hitching breath against his neck. He didn't know what to do when Kaname got like this. The pureblood was so darn hard on himself that it kind of made it difficult for Zero to find fault with him, because Kaname was immediately a hundred times more critical of his own failings and then Zero found himself in the position of having to try and argue against his lover's apparently built-in and often unreasoning self hatred. _What a mess. _

"Stop it; you're always such a damn martyr, Kaname!" The frustration in Zero's voice was due to his ache at being unable to alleviate or even truly understand Kaname's pain. "You act like you beat me or something. I could have said stop, I didn't. I said it was okay, all right? What more do you want from me?" Frustration had become mingled with soft pleading. He felt like they'd had this conversation before, or one like it. Kaname had this tendency to just go to pieces when he felt like he might have hurt or forced Zero in bed. It was very sweet, but it was kind of irritating, actually, because it usually kicked off when Kaname had nothing to really be sorry over.

Zero hated it when Kaname got like this because he wanted to _fix _things so badly and he didn't even know what exactly was broken.

Kaname did not answer, but kissed Zero's neck, visibly pulling himself together as he shoved his raw, confused feelings back into the dark where they belonged, where they wouldn't get in the way and irritate Zero or cause problems. He was so stupid. He needed to get on top of this. He'd screwed up, he had to deal with it and stop acting so freaking unbalanced. Really, he was behaving like some kind of head-case mental patient. He was lucky that the extent of his unbalance was only showing around Zero. It was usually deadly dangerous to give other vampires reason to start placing suspicion on a pureblood's sanity. Fortunately, he was completely safe with _this_ vampire, and Zero was amazingly forgiving of him and his screw ups. He treasured that, he really did. Sometimes, he couldn't imagine how his lover tolerated him at all.

"Let's go home," Kaname said gently when he finally lifted his head. He brushed Zero's cheek with the back of his fingers.

Zero smiled a bit self consciously under the tender, worried gaze. "Your meetings..."

"Forget the meetings, they can be rescheduled," Kaname said resolutely, although it was clear from the flicker of hesitation in his eyes that it was a lot harder for him to shrug off these obligations than it usually was. He'd worked hard to get everything set _just so_, and the ever looming consequence of failure was nauseating, but he'd made his own bed in that regard, and Zero was more important to him than anything else. He could _not _feel right going off and conducting business now. He needed to be with his lover, needed to make sure he was there for Zero if he needed him.

"No. Kaname, I'm all right, I swear. Go on," Zero insisted, somewhat embarrassed now. He had no idea of all that really hung in the balance, but he didn't want Kaname to wreck anything important on his account.

"They're my meetings. I can cancel them if I want to," Kaname's tone said his mind was made up. He started gathering up Zero's clothing and handing it to the hunter. He was going to need to get someone to clean up this room. He'd probably call Seiren from the car, she'd see that it was done. "Besides..." Kaname shot Zero a small, rueful smile and nodded down at his own clothing, which now smelled of Zero's blood and fluids because of the way he'd held the still naked hunter. "I'd have to change anyway and I'd be late. Better to just move them all together."

Zero ceded to the logic of the argument, although he knew it was mostly an excuse. He could tell that Kaname was trying to make up with him, although he had no way of knowing just how much his lover was willing to risk for his happiness.

-----------------------------

A steady rain had started to fall, so Zero's bike was loaded into the back of Kaname's limo and the two vampires shared the familiar backseat of the vehicle during the quiet ride back to Night Haven.

Kaname made the necessary call to Seiren and then had her transfer him to one of his assistants in order to impart the need to reschedule his meetings.

Zero gave him space to take care of business, quietly gazing out the window at the passing scenery. It was past midnight, but in the heart of the city, there were still plenty of people up and about at this hour even besides vampires. A couple in trendy evening attire held newspapers over their head and dashed along the sidewalks, looking for an awning. A group of young men in baggy pants and ball caps hunkered in the doorway of an apartment building. A line of people stuck on the sidewalk, waiting to gain entrance to an all-hours nightclub sprouted umbrellas like fast-growing mushrooms, the less prepared trying to crowd closer to their more weather-ready neighbors.

Zero was only half-seeing all of this and only half-listening to Kaname's phone call, but something in the pureblood's tone drew his attention more fully after a minute. Kaname's voice was still quiet and collected, but he sounded upset.

"What do you mean there's a problem? You told me that contract was ironclad," there was a soft, lethal edge to the brunette vampire's dark tone which made Zero glad he wasn't the person on the other end of Kaname's phone call. Zero couldn't really hear what the other party was saying due to the volume setting on Kaname's phone and the rain drumming on the roof of the car, but the muted murmur of their answers were quick and sounded a little scared.

"I don't care," Kaname said tersely after a moment. "Bring the whole legal team on to look it over, find a way to counter them. Failure is _not _acceptable, do you understand?" He hung up without waiting for a reply, flipping his mobile phone closed and shoving it into the pocket of his suit coat with more vehemence than was necessary.

Zero regarded Kaname from the seat beside him as the rain beat hypnotically against the window. "Bad news?" he asked after a moment when it became clear that the stewing pureblood was not going to volunteer the information on his own.

Kaname nodded, looking disgusted and perhaps a trifle sick. "The other day, you may have heard me talking about the Thetados Group. They're an international financial organization which holds a fairly large chunk of Mission Oil stock in one of its trusts. We have a standing agreement with them to buy the stock as soon as the portfolio it was part of is liquidated, which is happening now. Orion has been putting pressure on them, however, and he has sway with the groups' leadership. They've produced some phony documentation claiming that the bid we made to them was done through improper channels, making the contract void." The pureblood's jaw muscles worked silently, belying his forced calm.

"The matter is going to be argued before legal arbitration tomorrow, but the preliminaries took place this morning. It is not looking good. The problem is that whether or not the charges are ultimately dismissed, all they really need to do is stall until the trust liquidation is complete in three days. The laws in the country where the trust is held state that all liquidated assets must be placed on the open market within 30 days from final dissolution. You can be sure they'll not wait and will put the whole lot up immediately. Apparently, through some convoluted manipulation of their various terms of service, they contend that _because _we are in legal arbitration with them, we won't be eligible to become a client of theirs, which means we can't buy from them, and _that_ means Orion will snap the shares up. If Thetados loses the suit with us after that, they will owe us millions in damages and penalties, but the stock sale will not be reversible. No doubt, Orion has promised to cover their losses should that occur," Kaname's voice was bitter and Zero didn't blame him.

"What?!" he growled, incensed for Kaname's sake. "That's ridiculous! Can they really get away with that? Can't you do anything to change their minds?"

Kaname shook his head. "Apparently, they can. They are part of another Syndeo, one that has relational ties with Orion, I might add. I have no power over them outside legal channels. Trying to overtly influence the matter through any strong arm tactics at this point would be seen as an act of direct aggression." What the pureblood meant was that vampires were _extremely _territorial and attempting to exert sway within another pureblood's syndeo without their approval would be seen as tantamount to one country moving soldiers across another country's borders without permission. It would not go down well, and Kaname could not currently afford to start any territorial disputes of that nature, despite the stakes.

For one thing, starting open battles with his own kind would not go over well for someone who was so firmly pro-peace and co-existence. For another, it would also provide the Council of Elders with a golden opportunity to denounce him under the facade of maintaining stability. While smaller Syndeos could and did war with one another and were generally ignored, so long as they kept their activities out of the public eye, there was no way that a Kuran could be involved in such a conflict without causing ripples all over the world. Too many vampires would flock to him, and too many others would be alarmed by that and polarize the other direction, causing a much bigger tear than whatever started the initial argument. Once again, Kaname was trapped by who and what he was.

Kaname rubbed his forehead, trying to deny the headache bearing down on him. The truly aggravating part was that there wasn't much direct action he could take to attempt to salvage this situation. His lawyers were far more likely to find any possible loop holes to try and exploit than he was, and they would work better without being distracted by him breathing down their necks. There were other avenues he could and would pursue, but none of them looked particularly promising at the moment.

He was by no means admitting defeat, but this was an unexpected blow and it had him truly worried. If he lost the Thetados shares, his chance of obtaining majority control went from tenuous to unlikely.

Zero's brows furrowed deeply. The unfair treachery aimed at his lover riled him and he wished there was something he could do. He doubted there was, however. "I'm sorry, that sucks," he was all he could say. Terribly inadequate, but what else was there to be said?

Kaname gave a faint smile at the young hunter's straight-forward assessment of the situation. "Yes... it does, rather," he agreed.

Zero hesitated a moment before reaching over and taking Kaname's hand, giving it a squeeze before letting it go again. "Hey, you got out of answering my question back there, you know," he noted, fixing the pureblood with a keen, questioning gaze. Now that he was feeling better he was able to realize that Kaname had never addressed the issue which had first started their sort-of-fight to begin with.

Kaname shifted slightly in his seat as if he perhaps wished the car would move faster and tried giving Zero a charming smile. "What question was that?"

Zero frowned, indicating that the pureblood's charm was clearly not about to work this time. "The one about why you're so tied up in knots that you start drugging yourself and feeling afraid of hurting me. The one making you act flaky and shut me out all the time," the hunter said quietly and frankly.

Kaname's cheeks flushed and he looked out the window, his body language becoming extremely uncomfortable and guarded. He fidgeted with the cuff of his suit coat. He was having a bad enough time processing the possible implications of the developments with Thetados and trying to work his strategy around that new obstacle, Zero's questions weren't helping his mood.

When it became clear that the pureblood wasn't going to say anything, Zero sighed. "Come on, Kaname... what is there that you can't tell me? If you keep this up, you're going to have me imagining all kinds of awful things that are probably dozens of times worse than whatever the truth is," he pointed out logically, if with no small amount of frustration. His diplomatic skills had improved over the past few years, but he felt they were being sorely taxed at the moment.

Pain echoed silently through Kaname's eyes as he resolutely gazed out the window, torn about what to do and what to say. _No, Zero. I honestly don't think you could imagine anything worse than the truth. _His fingers dug silently into the arm rest beside him.

"Is there somebody else you're interested in? Are you getting tired of me? Is that what you don't want me to know?" Zero came flat out and asked the worst possible thing he could imagine. Despite the small chill of sick nervousness in his stomach, his voice was surprisingly even and collected, perhaps because he honestly didn't believe that was the case. He bet it would force his lover to break his frustrating silence though, and it did.

"No!" Kaname's eyes were wide as if the mere thought both shocked and horrified him. "Good God, Zero, definitely not!" he hurried to assure. "I swear, I haven't even _noticed _anyone else in ages and I could never, _ever _get tired of you, not... not _ever_," he promised beseechingly, his normal eloquence failing him as it so often did when he was upset and tried to express himself to the hunter. He was relieved to see in Zero's expression that his lover did not doubt his answer, and had perhaps not seriously doubted it to start with. Still, the fact that he'd even forced Zero raise such a question made Kaname feel like dirt.

Zero gave Kaname a slightly hesitant smile, relieved despite himself. "Okay, then is it something to do with that other bond again?" he asked quietly, his voice becoming serious and concerned as he moved on to something he considered more of a real possibility, and a worrisome one too. It was one of the few things that he thought Kaname might be reluctant to discuss with him.

Playing twenty questions like this was somewhat juvenile, but at least he'd gotten Kaname talking again. "You know, the uh... the one with Ichijo. I thought the worst of that had passed a while ago, but I... I don't really know how it works for a pureblood. Is the pain of that something that can come back? Is that what this is? Please, Kaname, tell me what's hurting you..." the soft, earnest plea nearly broke the pureblood.

_God... he was such a bastard to keep lying to and hurting someone who wanted so earnestly to love and support him. _Kaname felt tears sting his eyes. Why did he always dig himself into holes like this? Where he was damned no matter which direction he moved? For all his renowned skill in other areas, he appeared to be one shitty strategist when it came to relationships. Perhaps that was the problem though - this was one area of his life where he didn't play games.

Kaname knew better than to manipulate Zero, the hunter would know immediately and resent it, and anyway, Kaname didn't _want _to. He treasured the fact that he and Zero could be who they really were around one another without masks or pretence, he _needed _that. He didn't want there to be anything between them, but now there was and he was too utterly scared and ashamed to give his lover what he wanted. So, Kaname retreated into the familiarity of the only two safety rules that life had ever taught him – don't let anyone too close and don't let them see your pain.

"No, Zero... it's not that, I promise," Kaname finally turned his gaze on the younger vampire and despite Kaname's intentions Zero could see the pain and hesitation in written clearly in the swimming garnet eyes. They were already too close for Kaname to effectively hide from him now.

Zero felt so frustrated he could scream. "Then _what_? What could possibly be so..." the hunter stopped, a sudden thought striking him and making his insides ache. "Kaname, is this about Yuki?" It was the only thing that readily came to mind about which Kaname had lied to him before.

The slight flinch in Kaname's gaze was an answer and Zero felt his blood pressure rising to a boil. "It is, isn't it? Damn it to hell, Kaname!" He was trying not to shout, but it wasn't easy. "What the fuck is wrong with you? I thought we were past that! I thought we'd agreed to share everything to do with that and... and with her. No more secrets, you promised me that. You _promised _me!" The hunter couldn't _believe _it was _this_ all over again. Hadn't these kind of secrets nearly destroyed them several years ago? Hadn't they grown together as a couple at _all _since then?

Zero was obviously and quite justifiably furious and Kaname bit his lower lip, smarting from the rebuke he knew he deserved. If this had just been about Yuki, he would have told Zero right away, but it was so... complicated. That was an excuse though, and he knew it. Zero was right to be angry, Kaname had promised him repeatedly that he wouldn't keep secrets like this, that he wanted Zero to be part of everything. Yet despite his best intentions, he seemed incapable of keeping those promises. There was so much shadow that he walked in, so many places he didn't want to take Zero, so much that he still feared would make Zero disgusted or disappointed with him. Ultimately, the problem was that Zero was _too _important to him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to keep it from you, but you were away. When you came back things were going badly with the Mission Oil deal and time just seemed to disappear..." Kaname trailed off, cringing at how lame and pathetic that sounded, even in his own ears. He sighed. "Okay, that was a terrible excuse," he admitted. "The truth is, Zero, I don't have an excuse. I just..." Kaname sank his head into his hand, closing his eyes and swallowing his pride as best he could. "I was an idiot," he finished quietly.

He raised his head again and his sad eyes were serious. He should have told Zero at least about the parts concerning Yuki when he'd related the rest of the business to him the other day, there was no good reason or justification he could offer for why he hadn't. The stupid part was that he hadn't even consciously been omitting it, but he'd wanted to stay away from the whole wager entirely and hadn't come up with another way to explain the situation. _Moronic blunder number one-million-and-two... _Kaname knew he was making far too many of those lately, and given all that was dependant on his actions, that thought was both depressing and terrifying.

"I have been told that certain people at the head of Orion know who is responsible for what happened to Yuki. This person is not willing to sell or trade the information, but he offered me the chance to win it from him, if I succeed with the Mission Oil deal." Kaname explained quietly. _There, that was fairly innocent sounding, why hadn't he simply said that earlier, __**before **__Zero was thoroughly pissed with him? _

Zero frowned, absorbing that information. His heart gave a little leap that was part twist. Like Kaname, he wanted very much to find the parties responsible, preferably so he could make them suffer a slow and painful death. But he was confused. This was good news, wasn't it? Sure, it meant there was more than he'd realized at stake over this business deal, and he could understand how that would be stressing Kaname out quite a bit, but why had Kaname felt he had to hide that?

"And you're pretty sure he's telling the truth?" Zero asked slowly and Kaname nodded. "Okay... so why didn't you just tell me that before? It's not like I..." he broke off, suddenly looking worried and suspicious. Most vampires didn't offer anything unless they thought it would get them something in return. "Wait, so that's what _you_ get if _you_ win... what does this 'other party' get if _he _wins?"

Kaname's mouth went dry and his throat closed up. He froze, mental function seeming to cease. He should have known Zero was too smart to not light upon that question immediately. Actually, he _had_ known, maybe that's why he hadn't wanted to mention the wager. Kaname wasn't even sure he knew his own mind anymore, and at the moment it was nothing but an unhelpful whirl of panic that wasn't letting him form any kind of suitable response or believable lies.

Part of the pureblood wanted to just tell Zero, to end the agonizing charade, throw himself on his lover's mercy and hope that Zero could someday understand and forgive him... but how could he? Then he'd have to explain about the past and... he just couldn't go there. He was a weak, pathetic coward, but he couldn't. Kaname swallowed, dropping his gaze and quickly looking away, but not before Zero saw with trepidation the anguished look on his face.

"M-my blood," Kaname whispered, saying the first thing he could formulate, self-reproach pushing him to choose something that was at least close to the truth, and, for a vampire, almost as bad. It was a horrific thing to have to tell Zero, and perhaps that's why he chose it. Kaname knew Zero would be angry, and he knew he had a right to be, even if the actual reasons were different. Some twisted up sense of masochistic logic made Kaname feel he deserved to be punished, even if he was too afraid to give the real reasons why. It was an easy enough lie to believe. After all, years ago, it's what Kaname had believed, what he thought everyone wanted from him... until he found out too late that he had been thinking far too innocently.

Color drained from Zero's face and he stared at his lover in shock. Perhaps he should have guessed the answer. After all, what would another vampire have coveted more than Kaname's powerful, pure blood? It also explained why Kaname hadn't wanted to tell him. Given the way Kaname was acting, Zero seriously doubted that the pureblood was going to be sending the other vampire a nice, impersonal little bottle of his blood should he lose. It was far more likely that the terms dictated the blood was to be given fresh and in person. The thought of Kaname offering his neck to anyone else made Zero see red, a suffocating, aching sensation of loss squeezing his lungs until he couldn't breathe. The searing flash of both emotional possessiveness and vampiric jealousy almost surprised Zero. He hadn't realized until that moment how very much he had come to consider Kaname's blood and Kaname himself something that was his and his alone. Maybe it was horribly selfish of him, but he didn't want to share him, not with anyone for any reason.

"How _could_ you make a deal like that?" Zero almost choked on his own words, struggling to make his lungs work again. "Without even... I don't know, _talking _about it or something!" Zero bit his lower lip and tried to keep from saying more. He had a feeling he was overreacting. He had no right to tell Kaname what to do with his blood or anything else. Just because Kaname chose to share it with him, didn't mean the pureblood owed him anything... Zero looked down, trying and failing not to show the agony that those thoughts brought to him. "But I guess it's none of my business, huh?" he murmured, his voice sounding torn and a little bitter.

Kaname could see the damage done written clearly on Zero's downcast features. _No! _This was exactly what he _didn't_ want. It cut him to see that Zero wasn't sure whether he had a right to be jealous or not. He _did_. Kaname would have freaked out if Zero had promised his blood or, heaven forbid, anything _else_ to some other party in this manner and Zero had every right to feel that way about him. He hated that those fingers of doubt could still play on the ex-human and he felt sure that the real truth would only have made this situation a billion times worse. How could he ever admit that he'd risked not his blood, but his body? He could see more clearly than ever just how hard and cruel a blow that information would be to his lover, how deeply it might shake Zero's sense of security in their relationship. _God... he could not lose, he just __**couldn't**__!_

"It is! It _is _your business, Zero," Kaname responded with soft, forceful agony. "I-I wasn't thinking about how it would impact you when I made the deal and you've got every right to be furious with me."

Zero looked up, torn between conflicting emotions which were compounded by severe annoyance. "Stop it. Stop _agreeing _with me! You know how hard it is to argue with someone who _agrees _with you?"

"All right then, you tell me," Kaname said quietly, his voice still anguished, but now a little aggressive and upset as well. He _hated _this situation, but having Zero angry with him for all the same things he was already angry at himself over was frustrating. "_You_ tell _me_ what I should have done. Should I have told him to just shove it and let him destroy whatever evidence it is that he has? It's been almost four years, Zero. We've both exhausted every other lead we could find. Are you seriously okay with knowing that whoever murdered our sweet, gentle Yuki, after making her suffer through a long agony of devastating pain, is still out there, alive and well and escaping scot-free?!" The bitter, angry rawness of that thought was clear in the brunette's flashing eyes. Even after all this time, it was clear that Kaname still _needed _vengeance and closure, maybe even more than Zero did.

Zero's eyes flashed with answering pain. How could he respond to that? Of _course _he wanted Yuki's killers to pay, and in all honesty if the tables were reversed, he probably would have made the exact same deal as Kaname had. Yet somehow, even knowing that just didn't make the current situation any easier for him. If they lost, then not only did they lose the possible information, but Kaname had to do something Zero very much did not want him to do. What was worse, the contest was happening in Kaname's world, in the world of business and politics and all those frustrating things over which Zero had no control and could barely even do anything to help. The hunter's devastating sense of inability to have any influence over the situation at all made Zero want to punch something, _hard. _

"No, of course I don't want that!" he answered, his fists balling in his lap as he struggled with the lump in his throat. "But maybe there was another way! Did you even think of that? Damn it, Kaname, you always just throw yourself out there like you are the be all and end all to every problem - like sacrificing yourself for your goals is no big thing. I hate it! And besides, hinging something this important on a-a _bet _is ludicrous!"

"I know," Kaname whispered, the anger draining out of him wearily. "You think this is easy for me? There _was _no alternative, or if there was I couldn't find it. Zero... I didn't know what else to do."

They both looked away, neither really knowing what to say after that and silence hung heavily between them for a while. The street lights flicking by outside gradually became further and further apart as the glittering lights of the city faded away into the deeper darkness of the less populated countryside. Passing trees blended into dark, formless pools of shadow. The warm, yellow glow of house lights shimmered like solitary fireflies here and there between the trees sometimes, their glow warbled and smeared by the rain still sheeting down the tinted window panes.

Kaname finally cleared his throat. "Zero... I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have accepted the agreement, but I really didn't feel I had a choice. I still don't. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, I'm sorry I'm making such a huge mess out of this whole situation and ... I'm just sorry, I don't know what else to say." He fell silent again, his gaze hovering quietly on the other boy's pale features as Zero sat staring out the other window, chin resting on his palm. The occasional flare of the street light or of a passing car played across the ex-human's tense features, making his silver hair appear white.

Zero didn't say anything right away. He was still angry and he didn't want to say things he would regret. Ironically, the thing that was ticking him off the most now was that he actually _did _understand where Kaname was coming from, and he didn't _want_ to. Kaname's confusing lack of trust in him stung.

"Zero, please, I didn't mean for you to be hurt." Kaname's tone was starting to take on that pleading note again that pulled rather unfairly on Zero's heartstrings. "I didn't even want you involved..."

The hunter sighed. "That's the whole problem, Kaname, don't you see that? I _am _involved. I _want _to be involved. But sometimes I feel like I'm standing on the outside of your life looking in." Zero was frustrated by not knowing exactly how to express what he was feeling. He wasn't even sure _he_ could understand exactly what he was feeling, much less make Kaname understand it.

It just didn't feel fair. Kaname was so involved in his life - he knew all about his missions, his training, the other hunters and even kept tabs on the whole Association, especially as it related to Zero. Sometimes it was sort of a pain in the butt, really, because Zero was a much more hands-off kind of person who preferred to let people do their thing and wanted them to let him do his. Kaname's more meddlesome proclivities occasionally got on his nerves, but at the same time it did feel good having someone you cared about take that much of an interest in your life.

What had happened during his last mission, and the way Kaname had dropped everything to come to him was still very fresh in Zero's mind. The pureblood was deeply involved in his life and always ready to be there for him... but Kaname did not seem to expect or even welcome the same in return and that frustrated the hunter. Kaname kept his life and his troubles away from Zero and always took it on himself to take care of everything. He knew Kaname probably didn't want to burden him, but he did not appreciate being treated like something fragile to be protected and kept where it was safe. Zero wanted to be more involved in Kaname's life, he _wanted _to understand at least some of what he did, and _damn it, _he wanted to be able to be there for Kaname when the pureblood needed him!

"I don't want you to feel that way," Kaname whispered softly, his voice reflecting the pain that the thought caused him. "You're the most important thing _in _my life, Zero."

Zero sighed again, a little resignedly this time. Why was it so incredibly hard to stay angry with this man, even when he deserved it? The hunter was getting soft. "Look... I understand. I do. I don't know what else you could have done either. I'm not at all happy about it, but I understand why you did it. I know you're sorry, I know you don't want to hurt me, but you _do. _When you don't trust me or forget about me and shut me out like this, you _do _hurt me, Kaname. And you _know _you do. We've had this conversation before." He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. Maybe that was what made this worse, because it wasn't the first time it had happened and he was starting to wonder if Kaname would _ever _truly trust him enough to let him into the places in his life that years of loneliness had caused the pureblood to hide away.

"I love you," the hunter held Kaname's eyes unwaveringly when he said it, and the truth of it was clear in his gaze. "But right now I am really fed up with you."

Kaname knew that was more than he deserved and his gaze dropped to the seat between them, his fingers playing with a seam in the leather. At other times, he may have taken umbrage with Zero's tone, his own hackles rising to meet those of his lover's... but not now. He felt too guilty about what he knew he was still hiding. "Okay," he said softly instead. Outside, the shifting shadows had given way to the familiar landscaping of Night Haven as they turned onto the long, winding drive leading up to the house. "You're right, I'm sorry."

Zero rolled his eyes. It was freaky for Kaname to be so unnaturally docile and meek, it was not the response to which he was accustomed and it was kind of creeping him out. "You're agreeing with me again, stop it!" he growled, although he realized how stupid that sounded and a bit of a backwards amusement managed to tug at him over the sheer ridiculousness of it all.

Kaname managed a small, ironic and confused smile. "Um... okay?" he agreed slowly. "Or... should I say no?" Honestly, Zero was very hard to understand or please sometimes.

Zero reached out and lightly cuffed Kaname upside the head. "Idiot."

Kaname caught Zero's hand, holding onto it tightly. His fingers were warm and soft. The car reached the top of the drive and slid to a halt. The rain had stopped and with the engine off, the car seemed suddenly very silent. Neither vampire made a move immediately. Finally, Zero pulled his hand free and reached for the door, before the driver could come back to open it.

"I guess I'll be coming with you again tomorrow then," the hunter said as he got out, holding the door for Kaname. His tone was brisk and down to business, but his eyes were a little softer than before. "You can give me a run-down on what's being done and where I can plug in. There has to be something I can do to help, to _really _help," he added earnestly. Losing this battle and watching Kaname be forced to carry out his side of the wager wasn't an option, so Zero was even more committed to doing whatever he could. This was one road he was not going to let Kaname walk alone. He'd find a way to help whether his lover liked it or not.

Zero's obvious intention to support him in any way he could meant a lot to Kaname. He slid out of the car. "Thank you, Zero," he said quietly. He couldn't really think of a thing his lover could do right now, but just the fact that he wanted to did his heart good. Kaname hesitantly touched the side of his lover's face, letting his fingertips glide along it, tucking loose strands of silver hair behind the ex-human's ear.

Zero gave a small nod before looking away and slamming the car door. He did not return the pureblood's caress, but he did not reject it either. "That doesn't mean I'm not still pissed," he warned and Kaname nodded in understanding. He could live with having to earn Zero's forgiveness, so long as he knew it would eventually be forthcoming.

Once inside, Zero headed straight up the stairs for the shower, moving a trifle stiffly despite the blood he'd recently drunk. _Damn, he was still kinda sore..._

Kaname headed upstairs as well, but he was not in a hurry to wash. Right at the moment it was strangely comforting to have Zero's scent all over him, so he headed for the phone in his room instead, intending to make a couple of hopefully quick calls regarding the Thetados matter while Zero was in the shower.

From down the hall he heard Zero's cell ring four times before presumably going to voice mail. A few moments later, it did so again. The first time, Kaname had hardly been paying attention, but by the third time it happened, he paused and replaced the receiver of his own phone, brows furrowing slightly. Someone seemed to be pretty intent on getting Zero's attention.

The fourth time the insistent caller re-dialed, Kaname left his bedroom and made his way down the hall towards Zero's rooms. Kaname reached the open door at about the same time that a wet, towel-clad Zero stormed out of the shower and wrestled the offending phone out of the pocket of the pants tossed on his bed.

"What?" he demanded tersely as he flicked it open and pressed it to his dripping ear. He had intended to ignore it, but there were few people who called him, and since he knew it wasn't Kaname, there were even fewer people he could think of who would be so insistent. A quick glance at the caller ID before he'd picked up had confirmed his suspicion, making wary alertness mingle with his irritation.

Zero mostly listened after that, giving only a few brief responses before hanging up again, which in itself would have told Kaname that it was work related, even if he hadn't been able to hear the voice on the other end. Zero couldn't turn his phone down low enough to keep Kaname from overhearing, although he didn't usually care.

"The Association," Zero explained somewhat unnecessarily. The hunter sighed. "I have to go, a couple Level E's have shown up in the Onyx nightclub. They're scrambling all of the nearest hunters to deal with it and contain the fallout. Sounds like it's going to be a mess." The young hunter looked guilty and somewhat chagrined. It was horribly ironic that after Kaname had cleared the afternoon just to be with him, it was now _his _job that was pulling him away. But it wasn't the kind of summons he could refuse. Lives were at stake and he was the one who had volunteered to be on the first responders list. "Kaname, I..."

"It's fine," Kaname assured quickly, wanting to stem the guilt he could see building before it budded. He looked as if he wanted to ask if Zero would like him to come with, but he knew that he wouldn't. Zero always wanted him well away from his hunter business. Kaname supposed he couldn't blame him. Still, a new light of worry quickly crept into the pureblood's gaze. "Are you okay? Are you up to it?" he asked quickly, graceful fingers already tugging loose his tie and hurrying to unbutton the collar of his dress shirt.

Zero had to tear his eyes away from that appealing sight before it garnered an unhelpful reaction from his body. "No, no, I'm fine," he promised, laying a damp hand over Kaname's to still him. "And I have to hurry." Fortunately, he didn't have to drive all the way back to town at least. The Onyx was an upscale establishment much nearer at hand where the ultra hip and wealthy could party all night, tucked away on a lush set of private grounds.

Zero started to move towards the closet, but Kaname cupped his cheek briefly in his palm and gave the hunter a soft, quick kiss. "Be safe, Zero. Please."

Zero realized from the look in the worried garnet eyes that it was probably taking everything Kaname had for the pureblood to not try to suggest he send some of his people to take care of the situation instead. He and Zero had already had that discussion and Zero had made it very clear that his job was _his _job, and the Association didn't appreciate it when Kaname's agents would sweep in a few steps ahead of them.

Zero kissed him back. "Safe is a four letter word, Kaname," he replied, attempting a bit of levity as he quickly dried off and crossed to the closet. He tossed some clothes on before palming open a hidden panel in the back of the closet. He had a fair sized anti-vampire arsenal inside the small chamber, including a small, concise rucksack of gear that he kept packed and ready for just such occasions. He slung the backpack over one shoulder, snatched the Bloody Rose up off his dresser and headed for the door.

He tossed Kaname a small, crooked smile before he left. "But I'll try, for you. Promise." No matter what else was going on between them, or how ticked he might be with his lover, Zero did not want to take off into a potentially dangerous situation with hurt having been the last thing between them. He knew how much Kaname worried about him, especially after what had happened last mission.

Kaname chuckled in response, his gaze only sobering once more after he heard the downstairs door shut behind the young hunter. _Don't think about hunter mortality rates. Don't think about the fact that his job could get him killed every time he leaves the house. You know how strong and capable Zero is. No pathetic Level E's stand a chance. _The pureblood went through the same mental litany he employed every time Zero left on an assignment. He was already unsettled though, and it didn't help much at present.

Feeling suddenly very alone, Kaname reluctantly made his way out of Zero's room and back down the hall to his own. Since he was free now and had the time, he had better do a little scrambling of his own in an attempt to bring the Thetados situation under control. Maybe it would help him not worry about Zero so much. Maybe.


	9. And the Hunter Home from the Hill

_A/N: Title of this chapter is from the poem "Requiem" by Robert Louis Stevenson. I always liked that poem, but mostly I used it for this chapter because of it's ironic use of the word "hunter" and (although I know that technically it's supposed to be about death) the feeling of homecoming that it always evoked in me, which works for the end of this chapter. :) This looooong chapter. *rolls eyes at herself for once again failing to write anything of reasonable length* _

**Chapter Nine: "****And the Hunter Home from the Hill****"**

The wheels of Zero's bike crunched on gravel as he parked quickly in a stand of trees that stood halfway between the road and the Onyx nightclub. His body protested slightly as he hopped off the bike, still shouldering his gear bag. He ignored the sensation because now was not the time for distractions. Not far away, back up the hill a bit, he could see the flashing lights of an ambulance and emergency vehicles casting a twisting red and white glow into the large, stately trees that flanked the entrance to the main drive. There was a small crowd of at least twenty people knotted together there, some in uniform, most in evening wear that probably cost as much as Zero's bike. The hunter could hear the panicked murmur of many voices trying to talk at once. Farther down the hill, the shape of the nightclub itself loomed dark against the inky, silver flecked waters of a moonlit lake.

Normally, a remote location like this would have been horrible for the nightclub business, but the Onyx pandered to the elite who wanted to party away from prying eyes and to the social-climbers who wanted to act like they belonged in that set, whether or not they did. There was a nearby lodge associated with the club where out of town guests could lodge, or where locals could go for a weekend get-away if they could afford the exorbitant rates. The club was frequented by both humans and vampires alike, although of course, the former did not know about the secrets of the latter.

The strong scent of fear and blood in the air was heady and the young ex-human hunter had to close his eyes for a moment, forcing himself past the vampiric reaction that initially rose in him until he was able to focus on more useful data from his senses.

The main knot of human presence gathered around the ambulance at the head of the drive meant that hopefully most of the club patrons had already been evacuated and rounded up. On his way in, Zero had recognized the hunters in the paramedic and police uniforms who were helping the injured and making sure everyone stayed together. He heard the sobbing, frantic sound of a woman repeatedly trying to make a call on her cell phone, but he knew she needn't bother. Containment efforts had already begun, which meant that signal jammers were creating a communications dead zone around the entire area. Last thing they needed was multiple calls to emergency services or somebody with a cell phone camera uploading pictures of a Level E on a rampage onto the internet right from the scene. The advent of modern technology made keeping the vampire secret more troublesome than in the past, but fortunately the fact that internet hoaxes and faked videos were a dime a dozen balanced the scales. Still, it was better to keep as much of a lid on things as possible and out in the country like this it was easy to blame the lack of reception on the location. It also served to make everyone even more eager to stick close to the "officers" and ambulances.

The panicked club patrons were obviously desperately glad to have a soothing official presence to protect them and weren't about to go wandering anywhere away from them too soon. The badges and official looking vehicles would bring comfort and engender immediate trust, which was why they were being used. When all was said and done, the ruse would make it easier for the hunters to alter those people's memories and place the suggestion of some more "reasonable" explanation for the panic and injuries at the club this night. Although in all likelihood, some of the hunters present actually were paramedics and policemen. Those were useful professions to hold for those of their kind.

There were some hunters who specialized in cleanup and containment, but that was not usually Zero's job. His involvement and training was geared towards removing the threats themselves. Towards that end he slipped past the hubbub around the emergency vehicles and hid his bike in the trees, proceeding on foot towards the main structure of the nightclub itself from which the scent of blood was emanating the strongest. He could sense the presence of a number of vampires in that direction. He went in on foot so as to move more silently and not herald his arrival.

The Onyx resembled a mansion, built right on the edge of a man-made lake which fed off of the nearby river. A glance at the rows of expensive sports cars parked outside spoke volumes about the social class of its clientele and told Zero that whatever cover story was used for tonight's events, it was going to end up splashed all over the front pages of tomorrow's newspapers. People were always interested when something befell the upper crust.

The cars gleamed pale and shiny in the crisp moonlight. Zero ducked behind a Lamborghini and dropped the bag from his shoulder. He preferred to go into a situation light, so he pulled out a couple of items that he thought he might need and pushed them into his pockets, leaving the bag with the rest of the gear stashed behind the vehicle. Then he slid the Bloody Rose from inside his jacket, clicked the safety off, and continued on across the carefully manicured lawn towards the club.

The building appeared dark, but Zero soon realized that that was because the windows were all either covered or blacked out with some kind of one-way reflective glass - the better to protect its patrons' privacy, no doubt. As he approached he could hear the heavy, thudding sound of a base line pounding away from inside the structure. Apparently, the music in there was still playing. It was loud enough for him to feel it thrum in his chest as he slid up the stairs and onto the porch.

The door was ajar. No light was being cast from within, but the music flowed out through the gap. Pouring from darkness into darkness like blood pumping from a wound, it pounded away to the arterial beat of its own rhythm. Zero spotted a small symbol glowing faintly on one side of the entryway which told him that at least one other hunter was already on scene. He recognized the symbol as belonging to Haru, one of the hunters with whom he and Yagari had recently shared their extended mission.

If answering a call which involved multiple responders, like this one, it was not uncommon for hunters to tag the scene when they arrived in order to let other hunters know they were there. Zero had the advantage of being able to smell the human presences, but most hunters could usually only sense vampires. The unique markers also let you know _who _was on the scene, which could sometimes be useful if you knew your fellow hunters' tactics and weapons of choice.

Zero added his own tag to the door post, twisting the charm silently and initiating it with a touch of his fingers before slipping inside.

The darkness within the club and the throbbing rave music engulfed him like a being plunged underwater. His eyes adjusted quickly as he slid down a short hallway and turned a corner which led into the club's main dance floor area. There was more light in here, but it was the swirling, flashing, chaotic light of a dozen colored spotlights and strobes bouncing off reflector balls all around the room. The schizophrenic illumination and the twisting, mobile shadows that it created generated more confusion than clarity.

Zero blinked, wincing slightly as one of the strobes hit him in the eyes. He ducked quickly to the right, instinctively hiding in the shadows as his vision returned. The dance floor was empty and in a state of destructive chaos. Chairs and tables had been over turned and broken; glasses and bottles were spilled and smashed everywhere, the strong smell of expensive liquor mingling with the even stronger smell of blood and death. The area was large and lent itself to concealment with private booths, islands of lush built-in foliage and dangling curtains dividing up hidden areas towards the back. The shattered shapes of broken furniture twisted and writhed under the spinning lights, combining with the architecture and making it hard to tell if the area was truly empty or not.

The entire room reeked of blood. Zero could see huge crimson splashes of it on the walls and floor. A dark, terribly still figure lay sprawled across the bar – a woman, or what was left of her. She was lying on her back, her throat almost completely torn out. One arm hung limply over the side, blood dripping slowly from the manicured fingertips down onto the floor, mingling with spilt wine and martinis.

The sporadic flashes of the strobes illuminated the scene like something out of a B rated horror flick, only this wasn't the movies, it was real. That woman wasn't getting up again once the take was over and her loved ones were going to have to deal with her loss without even getting to know the real truth of how she died. Zero felt the dark heat of anger burn through him, beginning to boil his blood. Animals had done this - animals that needed to be put down before they killed again.

He held his gun ready, canted back slightly against his shoulder, barrel pointed up in the ready position as he slid along the wall, staying out of the path of the roving lights as best he could while he scanned the room. The sensation of _vampire_ was making his skin prickle. He knew there was someone in here, probably more than one. The heavy, coppery ambrosia of blood in the air was messing with his senses as much as the pounding music and flashing lights, making it impossible to pinpoint them, but they were _here_.

Somewhere else in the house, possibly upstairs, he heard the muffled, but distinctive retort of a gun being fired. Must be Haru. The shadows shifted on his right and Zero swung around just in time as a figure launched from the darkness with a soft, inhuman cry. For a moment he could see the wild red eyes and dripping fangs as the mad vampire lunged for him with the unnatural speed of their kind. The bloody rose was already up and Zero pulled the trigger. The 'E twisted its body at the last moment and Zero felt a warm spray of blood across his cheek and one side of his jacket. The vampire's body slammed into him a moment later and they both went down.

Blood instead of dust meant it hadn't been a kill shot. If an ex-human had fallen far enough, you could shoot them almost anywhere with an anti-vampire weapon and they would shatter because they were too weak to withstand it. But this vampire must have only recently fallen and had just had a lot of fresh blood, apparently. Zero needed to hit either heart or head to finish the job.

The young hunter rolled with it as his attacker took him down to the floor, fangs snapping and straining for his neck. Some part of his mind registered that the creature had once been a woman. Probably a beautiful one. Her long hair whipped and slid across his face as she tried to get at his neck. At least fallen 'E's were usually predictable. They all wanted one thing. Blood.

Zero struggled with her, holding her shoulder with his left hand in an iron grip and twisting his head back, away from her while he swiftly shoved his right hand up between them. His right hand was still holding his gun. He fired point blank into her chest, easily hitting the heart this time and the writhing, struggling weight atop him suddenly disappeared as the vampire dissolved into soft, pale ash. For a moment her face was frozen over him, the red bleeding out of her eyes and leaving her looking hauntingly normal for half a second. Then her features dissolved along with everything else and she was no more than a memory. The pale dust settled atop him, sticking to the blood on his jacket and drifting to the floor.

Somewhere inside, Zero hoped that when their tortured bonds with this earth were broken, the spirits inside these unfortunates found freedom and rest. He would never admit it, especially since many other hunters were of the opinion that vampires did not have souls, but sometimes it seemed like when the bodies crumbled to dust like that, there was a faint gust of wind that came from nowhere, almost like the soul of the departed sighing in relief as it fled. Of course, that was probably sheer whimsy, so he tried not to think about it, but when your occupation was to kill, you found your own ways of dealing with that.

Zero rolled quickly to his feet, but as he did so a heavy weight hit his back, pitching him forward. A second vampire landed on him with a jarring thud, striking the hunter powerfully in the kidneys with his knee. Pain seared trough Zero's senses and a small swell of old terror shuddered through him like ice. Trapped on his stomach, he couldn't bring his weapon up, or get any decent leverage to throw off the incredibly strong, incredibly heavy weight pressing down on his back. A fist tangled in his silver hair, jerking his head up from the floor and canting it to the side, exposing his throat. At the same moment, Zero felt the hard sole of a shoe stamp down on his gun hand with almost crushing force, before the Bloody Rose was kicked out of his grip. His hunter senses roiled with warning. _Shit, there were two of them ganged up on him now, how many of the buggers were there?! _

The vampire on his back had tugged Zero's head to the right, exposing the tattooed side of his neck. The E was apparently unwilling to bite through the hunter mark, however, and quickly yanked Zero's head to the left instead. That half moment of time was all Zero needed.

Pale, thorny vines sprang out of his body like a writhing, curling mass of snakes. They twisted up around the vampire on his back, curling around the E's arms and throat and jerking him back. The vampire who was standing shrieked and kicked Zero in the head.

Stars exploded in Zero's vision and his head throbbed but he kept control over his powers, rolling away as much as he could around his own vines. The strong, silvery cords looped tighter around the captive vampire's neck, turning slender and sharp like razor wire. Zero couldn't really see what he was doing from this angle, but he had learned how to use the vines, how to sort of "feel" with them, even when he couldn't see. He gave the vines around his attacker's neck a quick, hard twist, using them like a garrote and severing head from body.

The weight on his back disappeared and Zero retracted his vines quickly as he rolled, staying just ahead of the other vampire who had ripped a leg off of one of the tables and was now swinging it down at him, trying to crush him from a 'safe' distance. The wooden bar hit the ground by Zero's head, splintering slightly from the impact. Zero rolled to his knees, searching for and quickly spotting his gun a few yards away. He knew Haru and perhaps other hunters by now were on the scene and he was loath to keep fighting with his vines lest one of them should see him. Outside of Yagari, Kaname and some dead Level E's, no one had seen his powers yet and that was the way Zero liked it. Having other vampires underestimate him was good and _not_ having other hunters regard him as even more of a vampire freak was preferable.

If the situation had been desperate enough, he would have done what he had to do, but as it was, he had another plan. His hand plunging into his pocket, Zero pulled out one of the small, modified flash bang grenades he had taken from his pack. He pulled the pin and tossed it, diving behind a table and screwing his eyes shut. It detonated almost immediately and Zero could see the searing flash of light even behind his closed eyelids. Quickly, his eyes opened and he sprang to his feet, diving past the howling, blinded vampire and snatching up his gun. He fired two swift shots to head and heart and the figure dissolved.

Zero thought he could just hear someone calling to him above the thudding of his heart and the pounding of the music that was still rocking away. He turned to look and as he did the music finally stopped and the overhead lights came on. Zero winced at the sudden change in lighting, feeling momentarily blinded himself as his eyes struggled to adjust.

"Hey, Kiriyu, you okay?" Zero recognized Haru's voice and quickly stopped rubbing his eyes, trying not to blink too painfully.

"Yeah," he returned, nodding to dust that scattered the floor around him like spilt ash trays. "There were three down here. This area's cleared. What about the rest of the house?"

Haru nodded upwards. "There was two upstairs, I got one, the other ran, he may have come down here to hide with his cronies, but we'd better search the house to be sure. I'll take East, you take West."

Zero nodded and they split up again, Haru heading out the door and down the hall to the other side of the house. The young hunter combed carefully through the large room and the hidden areas in the back. He found two more bodies, victims of the E's rampage, but no more vampires. There was a back door to the club that let out into a garden with a swimming pool and access to the lake. Zero tensed as he saw a dark shape crouched in the shadowy bushes by the pool house. He could sense vampire out here and he approached cautiously with gun leveled, but the figure didn't stir.

Stooping cautiously, Zero pushed a few branches away to get a better look, already able to tell that something was wrong about this. Quickly, he realized that the shape was not a vampire, it was another dead victim. The body was a young man in a ruined dinner jacket, huddled in the bushes as if hiding, still clutching his torn throat with lifeless fingers although his blood had ceased to flow. He must have escaped the carnage inside only to bleed out in his hiding place in the garden. He still looked terrified. _What a horrible way to die. _

Zero frowned. He had not yet grown jaded to the constant death and tragedy into which his profession led him. Just in case, the young hunter leaned down and checked the man for a pulse or any signs of breathing. As he suspected, unfortunately, there were none.

Suddenly Zero felt a strange, frightening numbness seize him. The sensation of vampire was even stronger but his reflexes were strangely slowed, like he was moving through quicksand. A moment later he was flying sideways. He hit the grass with a soft jar, another body landing on top of him. "There you are, you troublesome little..."

The face of the vampire over Zero's registered shock for a moment as it got a good look at him, and the strange numbness making Zero feel like he'd been given a general anesthesia eased a little. Zero took the advantage while he could, rolling them both over and pinning the other vampire to the grass.

The vampire was male with dark hair and eyes. He was nicely dressed and his eyes did not burn red. Something wasn't right, but all Zero knew at the moment was that he had been attacked by a vampire and he responded accordingly.

He jammed the Bloody Rose against the man's neck, stilling his struggles. The other vampire felt the biting prickle of the anti-vampire weapon against his skin and his eyes widened. "Y-you're a hunter?" he gaped in surprise.

Even through his reactionary haze, Zero could tell that this man was not acting like he was insane. He wasn't trying to go for Zero's throat and his eyes did not burn. That was the only reason Zero hadn't pulled the trigger yet.

"Yeah, and you like to butcher people?" Zero returned darkly, his hand tightening on the trigger.

"No! No, I'm not one of _them. _I'm not an 'E!" the vampire protested in an angry hiss, obviously disdainful of being mistaken for such, but also obviously unnerved at finding himself in such a disadvantaged position with a hunter. All Zero had to do was squeeze and he'd be incapacitated, if not mortally wounded.

Zero growled as he stared down into the alarmed, angry, but ultimately sane eyes below him. His blood was up and he really wanted to pull the trigger, but he could tell that this one was different. This vampire was a brighter flame in his hunter senses than the others had been and he was a lot stronger. This one was a fricking _aristocrat_, which explained the numbness that Zero had felt a moment ago, the man must have been using his powers on him. His presence troubled Zero.

"Oh really? Then what the hell are you doing here and why did you attack me?" he demanded, the gun still pressed hard into his opponent's throat. He straddled the man, knees pressing into the prickly, well trimmed grass.

"I'm doing the same thing you are!" the other vampire rasped indignantly but desperately around the pressure. "I'm here for the four E's. You're an ex-human, I saw you crouching there in the shadows over a body and I thought you were one of them, I didn't know you were a hunter!"

Against his will, Zero believed him. He _was _an ex-human and he was splashed with the blood of one of the fallen vampires in question, which was no doubt messing with his scent. But that didn't mean he had to like it, or like this jerk either. He dug the gun a little harder against the side of the vampire's Adam's apple.

"Well you're a little late because if four of them is all there were, then they're all dead already. Who sent you to clean up?" he demanded. He didn't recognize this vampire and they were in Kaname's territory. It was pretty unusual for an unbidden noble to be operating on his own initiative this close to a pureblood's residence, but Zero was fairly certain that Kaname hadn't sent this jerk. He wouldn't have sent anyone who wasn't aware of Zero's involvement. Besides, if Kaname was going to meddle, he would have sent Seiren and Zero would likely have never known she was there. Zero had a feeling that had happened before, but he couldn't prove it.

"Someone much higher up than you, so if you don't want to get in trouble with Kuran-sama, I suggest you let me go," the vampire on the ground returned coldly, a hint of his haughty condescension returning.

Zero smiled darkly, actually quite amused that this idiot was trying to use Kaname against him. The other vampire had used a lawyer's wording – not actually _stating _that he was taking orders from the pureblood, but letting it be assumed by his word usage. The fact that he obviously didn't expect the ex-human to know any better and to be cowed by the mention of that name told Zero that this fellow was well informed enough to know that Kaname was in charge around here but apparently wasn't from this area himself. If he was, he would have heard of the pureblood's hunter protégé and put two and two together. There weren't many ex-human hunters after all. Actually, Zero was the only one as far as he knew.

"Kaname didn't send you, and I don't think he'd like your implying that he did," the hunter said, intentionally letting his familiar use of Kaname's name give the other vampire something to think about. "So... want to try again?"

The other man paled at Zero's words, confused and having to quickly re-assess his situation. As unlikely as it seemed, this ex-human was obviously in the pureblood's favor. He could imagine no other reason why the 'D would dare to speak of him so casually. "I never said he did!" the man protested quickly. "I just meant... I don't think he'd like you interfering with a noble's business." It was a lame save and Zero let his contempt for it and for the other vampire show clearly in his steely eyes.

"These were _your _E's, weren't they? You were responsible for them, but you screwed up somehow and now you're trying to cover your ass, is that it?" Zero guessed, yanking the man to his feet, regarding him warily, but ultimately pulling the gun away. Much as he might like to shoot him, he didn't recognize this man from a kill list and he wasn't an 'E. _Too bad. _

Zero gestured back towards the blood soaked club with his gun. "Why didn't you deal with them before they got this bad? You like watching them suffer, is that it?" the young hunter's eyes were hard and accusing. Aristocrats couldn't begin to imagine the torment experienced by ex-humans as they descended into madness. Zero could.

"They weren't mineand what happened was unfortunate and unforeseen, that is all. They were stable; there was no way to predict that they would fall so quickly," the other vampire huffed, still off balance from a moment ago and saying a bit more than he intended.

"You're trying to tell me that it was _totally_ unexpected? Four of them all falling _at the same time_?" Zero did not look impressed or convinced.

The other vampire shrugged as if annoyed by all the questions. The only reason he was still tolerating them - now that Zero didn't have him pinned anymore - was because the boy was a hunter and he didn't want to cause any kind of bureaucratic headache over this situation. "They belonged to my boss, Mr. Girard. We are staying at the lodge not far from here. He is involved in a very trying situation and was a little rougher with his attendants than usual. Apparently their constitutions were too weak. We didn't realize they had gone over the edge until we found them missing. I came to collect them as soon as possible, but..." he gestured around. "Obviously, it was too late."

What the vampire wasn't saying told almost as much as what he was. This Mr. Girard wasn't a pureblood. If he was, the aristocrat would have mentioned his name right away instead of using Kaname's. Girard was probably another noble, but apparently higher up the food chain than this genius. Zero's blood simmered at the man's attitude. _"A little rougher on them than usual" _was doubtless a polite way of saying that the bastard had misused and drained them so much that it tipped the scales on their already compromised systems and plunged them into full blown blood madness. It was no surprise that in that state they had made a beeline from the lodge to the nearest place where there was a concentration of human scent and human blood – the night club. This Mr. Girard was a hundred times more culpable for what had happened here than the poor E's who had died tonight, but Zero knew he was sadly beyond the reach of punishment, not unless it could be proven that Girard or this man had willingly endangered the public by creating a menace and not dealing with it.

It was doubtful that such a charge could be made to stick in this kind of a circumstance, but Zero was in a dark enough mood to try, or to at least inconvenience this dirt bag for as long as possible. "Let me see your ID," he demanded darkly.

The other vampire pulled out his wallet and turned the requested documentation over crisply. Zero quickly noted from the foreign documents that although he fit in perfectly well here and was probably an expatriate; the vampire in question was listed as a resident of a different country. His visiting papers placed him as a new arrival. That fit with what Zero had deduced earlier.

"You're not from around here, Khang," he noted aloud, reading the vampire's surname off his ID and fixing him with a suspicious gaze. "Entry stamps say you arrived only yesterday. Are you telling me that you and your boss brought four Level Es into the country with you?" There were stiff laws against knowingly transporting E's across borders and Zero was pleased to see that the smug Khang was starting to look a little concerned.

"No, no," he assured quickly. "I told you, their fall was unexpected. They were quite sane when we brought them here."

Zero doubted that they could have been _quite sane _one day and crazy the next and he supposed the other man was exaggerating a bit. He meant they had been _controllable _before. "Right," he let skepticism drip from his tone. "And why _are _you here?"

"Mr. Girard and I happen to represent the Thetados Group," Khang said with more than a hint of self-importance in his tone, as if he expected Zero to recognize the name and be impressed. Zero _did _recognize the name, immediately, but not for the reasons the other man hoped.

"We had to come here rather suddenly to deal with a troublesome legal matter that has arisen. Naturally, Mr. Girard brought his attendants with him. They were gifts from the leader of our syndeo, Laroche-sama. What happened here was unpredictable and unfortunate, and that is all." The way Khang reverted to his heritage, sliding into using an honorific for their syndeo leader as opposed to the more western title he applied to his immediate superior indicated that this Laroche probably was a pureblood, which explained why he was giving out ex-humans like they were Rolex watches.

Zero knew now that the man sounded like a lawyer because he probably _was _one. Khang and Girard must be the representatives from Thetados who had come to keep legal proceedings over the stock Kaname wanted tied up until it was too late. The overwhelming urge to shoot the man came back with a vengeance, but Zero repressed it, his mind quickly spinning over some other, more useful ideas. This was too good a coincidence to pass up.

"So you're here for the hearings regarding Thetados trying to renege on selling Mission Oil shares to Kuran Corporation?" A new light of interest had filtered into the hunter's steely heliotrope gaze.

Khang looked shocked and Zero supposed that the actual details of the case were probably not something of which the general public was aware. "I'm not really at liberty to discuss my company's business matters," the man answered slowly, starting to sound suspicious and unsettled. His expression had already told Zero everything he needed to know. "Now, if there is nothing further, I should go let Mr. Girard know what has happened." He was obviously looking for a quick exit.

Zero cast about with his senses to make sure they were still alone. He tried to come up with a clever way to work into what he wanted to say, but quickly abandoned that idea. Psychological finesse and subtle manipulation were Kaname's style, not his. He usually found a pistol to the head, either figuratively or literally, to be more effective.

Zero caught and held Khang's arm in a firm grip, arresting any thoughts he had about leaving. "We're not done," he warned. "You and your Mr. Girard caused a mess here tonight and cost at least eight people their lives." Zero included the ex-humans in the body count for which he held them responsible. "You transported four level 'E's across international borders and you willfully and negligently endangered the public..."

Khang eyed Zero with distaste, trying and failing to pull his arm away, which did not seem to improve his mood. "All of which will be hard to prove, but would certainly be inconvenient to have to deal with," he said darkly, his lawyers mind cutting quickly to the chase. "Let's not play games, hunter. What is it that you want in order to make this go away?" Khang figured he could recognize someone on the take well enough.

Zero knew that Khang was right, legal channels would probably not do much good in seeking justice for what had happened here besides inconveniencing and embarrassing the Thetados group and putting them on the bad side of the Association for a while, but Zero had his own ideas about how to make them pay.

"Lose the phony documents you're using against Kuran Corp and drop the case," Zero said simply. "Honor your agreement and sell them the shares as promised." It wasn't like he was asking them to do anything illegal, quite the opposite. He knew of course, that that suggestion was not going to go down well though.

Khang actually laughed, although he was looking at Zero with mounting concern and suspicion. This ex-human was _way _too well informed; he must have quite the inside track on Kuran's dealings. If boy were a noble, Khang would have guessed he was part of Kuran's inner circle. In any case, it was clear that the young hunter was serving the pureblood's interests. "You've got to be joking!" he scoffed scornfully. "There's no way that that is an equal trade, even if I had the power to authorize it."

Zero looked bored and raised an eyebrow. "Oh? I didn't realize you valued your life so cheaply. Not that I don't agree, but..." he shrugged.

Khang had gone past incredulous into furious now, he had had all of this impudent, infuriating ex-human that he was going to take. "Don't you _dare _threaten me, _'D. _Tell Kuran he can forget it. He can do nothing to us, we're protected," he hissed angrily, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Laroche-sama will not tolerate anyone taking aim at his people or attempting to force our hands. If Kuran tries something, I promise you, it will start a war."

Zero smiled coldly, releasing Khang's arm and carelessly polishing a smudge of vampire blood and ash off the side of his gun barrel. "Wars go both ways, Khang, but who mentioned Kuran doing anything?" he inquired coolly, a silvery edge of steel in his tone.

"We were talking about this situation, here, tonight. You've caused a lot of trouble. The Association doesn't tend to like people who cause a lot of trouble. You want to know something interesting about us hunters?" Zero's tone was almost conversational... almost. "We don't usually get reasons passed along with the execution lists. Oh, sometimes we do, but most of the times it's just names and faces and nobody really asks any questions. The lists aren't just for E's you know, I've seen plenty of higher blood vampires pop up every now and again. Who knows? You could show up on them tomorrow."

Zero fixed the other vampire with a cold, dead, meaningful stare. "You want to know something else interesting? No one challenges the lists. For instance, say that tonight's little escapade made some people think you were part of... I don't know a plot or something to disrupt the peace. Say that you and Girard did somehow show up on the lists tomorrow and were duly taken care of by various hunters doing their jobs. Your Syndeo may not like it, but do you really think Laroche would find it worth causing trouble with the Association? Especially after what happened tonight? Ultimately, you're replaceable. No use crying over spilt milk and all that, you'd already be dead and there would be no advantage in it for him to raise a fuss. In a situation like that, it's not as if it was an inter-Syndeo dispute or anything..." The hunter eyed the noble coolly. This side of politics, Zero understood quite well. The Hunter's Association's rules were accepted and followed by the vampire community, not so much out of fear of the hunters themselves, as because any group which struck against them would be quickly and ruthlessly put down by their peers in order to keep the peace.

The current hunter and vampire truce lasted only as long as the status quo was maintained. Until the majority of the vampire population should decide that war was again preferable, they knew they had to at least keep up the facade of patrolling their own in order to keep things from descending into chaos again. The Council of Elders held considerable power, and they did not currently want war. Therefore, everyone else continued to tow the line.

It cut both ways, since the Hunter's Association also had to be mindful of not pushing too hard and provoking an incident, but given the rather large carte blanche they generally had to work with under the accord that had been set up several centuries back, it was not usually a problem.

Zero knew that what he was suggesting was not nearly as easy as he made it sound. The lists could be and had been tampered with or unduly influenced before course, but it took a lot of doing and carried an automatic death sentence if you were caught and convicted. It was also highly unethical for hunters to trade on their status to exact bribery or favors from the vampire population - which didn't mean that it didn't happen, but like police officers on the take, it was still a corrupt and frowned upon offence.

But Zero had no intention of actually doing any of what he was implying. Heck... he wasn't even threatening the guy, was he? He was just filling him in on some interesting facts about hunters along with some theoretical scenarios to illustrate them. Conscious that he was dealing with a lawyer, he was careful to keep it all on a hypothetical level. If the blood sucker chose to let his imagination get away with him and read more into the conversation... well that wasn't his fault, now was it?

The other vampire looked livid, but his face had drained of color. Apparently he was quite aware that his Syndeo head would easily sacrifice him and his before stirring up trouble with the Association. This Laroche may be willing to protect them in a matter of what he considered to be simple business for the sake of whatever ties he had with Orion, but in the end, Zero knew that those parasites thought only of themselves. Laroche wasn't going to stick his neck out for something that ultimately only benefited someone else. He didn't want a war with Kaname anymore than the pureblood did; messing with a Kuran was not something to enter into lightly. The fact that Kaname didn't want one either and could afford it less balanced the scales, but in the "theoretical" situation that Zero was proposing, Kaname's involvement would be completely impossible to prove.

"Of course, if you and Girard _were _to meet untimely ends, I'm sure they'd just send in replacements," Zero shrugged again, continuing in the same, calm tones. "It wouldn't make a difference to the court case. But you know, it might make a difference to you. Of course if, on the other hand, Kuran's attorneys were to suddenly find some compelling and irrefutable evidence that your case is a complete sham... well, that wouldn't be your fault, now would it? I'm sure you're excellent at shifting the blame. Everybody could go home happy." Zero gave his gun another polishing swipe and pushed it back into his jacket. He could hear footsteps, far away on the other side of the house and he recognized Haru's scent, it was time to end this before the other hunter's search led him here. Zero had done all he could. He'd played his hand, now it was up to Khang and Girard on whether to call his bluff or fold.

If those two bastards pressed on though and if they cost Kaname control of Mission Oil through their deception and betrayal, if they were the reason that Kaname had to submit himself to some low-life cheating bastard... Zero really would find a way to kill them. They already deserved it for tonight, and that would be the final nail in their coffin. His eyes spoke that truth so clearly that it left no room for Khang to doubt him and his sincerity.

"Just something to think about. Have a good night and enjoy your stay." Zero's voice dripped sarcasm as he turned and walked away without waiting for a response. Khang was only a lackey in the grand scheme of things; Zero suspected that Girard would make the final call, but Khang was the one who would have to convince him. Engaging his survival instinct was what would get the ball rolling. Zero could only hope that that had been accomplished. Tomorrow would tell. It might all have been for naught, but it was worth a shot.

Zero met Haru around the house on the other side of the gardens and both confirmed that their searches had come up clear for any more Level E's on the property. Zero hung around for a while to assist with the clean up. It took several hours for all the survivors to be accounted for and for their memories to be systematically erased or altered until they all believed that it was a group of thieves with vicious dogs who had broken into the nightclub to rob the wealthy patrons. Then the dogs had gotten loose and things had gone horribly wrong.

Dealing with the bodies, the follow up investigations and the inevitably necessary paper trail were other people's responsibilities. Once his part was done Zero gathered his gear, removed his tag from the doorpost and walked back to his bike.

As he mounted the motorcycle and revved the engine to life, he had many things going through his mind. The victims, the E's, Khang... he found that he couldn't manage to feel guilty over the slight abuse of his position as a hunter that he'd perpetrated. He was normally quite scrupulous about such things, but Khang and Girard didn't deserve his pity. They were scum who used people and wrecked lives without concern. If he could make them squirm and help Kaname at the same time, he didn't see a problem with that. Maybe it was the vampire inside him that thought that, but right now Zero was so pissed over everything that he didn't care.

The cool wind whipped his hair about his face as he rode back towards home, almost managing to hide the scent of death clinging to him.

---------------------------------

Zero entered the house quietly and headed immediately for the stairs. He sensed that Kaname was probably up here somewhere, but hoped he wouldn't run into him right away. The hunter knew he smelled of sweat, blood and death. He would feel very wrong, embracing Kaname with the blood and dust of dead vampire still clinging to his clothes and skin. He'd done what had to be done, and felt no regret over it, but for him "bringing his work home" was something that he generally tried to avoid as much as possible.

Zero used the hall door to let himself quickly into his bathroom. He locked the door, shed his clothing, stuffed it down into the hamper and stepped swiftly into the shower. Zero turned his face towards the spray and breathed slowly. The hot water and cleansing steam felt good as it attempted to wash away the past few hours.

Kaname knew Zero had returned from the moment his sharp hearing picked up the growl of the young hunter's bike coming up the drive. It was tempting to go down to meet him, but Kaname stayed where he was. He knew that Zero preferred to have a little space when he initially returned from a hunt. He also wasn't sure whether Zero was still angry with him, or what kind of mood he'd be in now.

Kaname had learned that for some reason, Zero was usually either deliciously amorous and aggressive or unreasonably irritable and truculent upon returning from a hunt. If it was the former, then Kaname tried to make sure he was available because he _loved _Zero like that. If it was the latter however, the pureblood generally tried to give him a wide berth until the mood passed. Zero excelled at being irritating when he wanted to be.

Once he heard the sound of a door shutting elsewhere in the house, the pureblood closed his laptop and slid out of the chair he'd been occupying. He quietly made his way down the hall and let himself into his lover's bedroom. As he'd expected, he heard the shower running in the bathroom. He smelled blood mixed with the water, but it wasn't Zero's blood.

Kaname sat down on the edge of the bed. He had also showered, but that was much earlier and his hair was dry by now. The silk burgundy robe he wore clung lightly to his body, contrasting with his pale skin. Tonight he figured it didn't much matter whether Zero was interested, irritated or indifferent. He needed to be near him. He was somewhat afraid of being near him after what had happened today, but he knew this was where he needed to be. Both because of his own need to be close to the ex-human, and because he felt like he owed it to Zero. He'd been unfair to Zero in many ways lately, and he wanted to make it up to him.

If Zero told him to leave, he would go, but if Zero let him stay, Kaname would give him anything. He didn't want to admit how much he'd worried while the hunter was gone. A dozen times he'd almost followed him or at least called Siren, but he knew that the last thing he needed to do was give his lover more reasons to be furious with him. He'd attempted to distract himself with work, but it had still felt like a slow kind of torture.

It was a relief now to just sit on Zero's bed and feel his presence in the next room. To know that in a few minutes he'd see him come through the door. Kaname couldn't lose him. He could face anything but that.

_Really? Can you really face anything else? Then why is it you still hide from your own past? _Kaname frowned slightly as the question fingered uneasily through his mind. He'd had far too much time to think about such things alone in the big house this evening with nothing but his stymied business endeavors to distract him.

His fingers absently caressed the small object in his pocket. He'd been carrying it with him a lot lately, indicating his silent unease with the choices he'd made in the past. Kaname pulled the small cube out of his pocket and turned it over slowly in his hands, looking _through _rather than _at_ it, as if it were a window to the past. A window he wasn't sure he wanted to open. The cube itself was nothing special, just a square of lead crystal, deceptively heavy in his palm considering its small size. It was only a key of sorts. The lock and the power to turn the key lay inside the pureblood himself.

Should he use it? Kaname slowly spun the cube between his fingers, the transparent crystal glittering dully in the dim light. Maybe he should. Maybe it was the fear of what lay unknown that was worse than what he actually did remember. Maybe it would be easier if he just got it all out in the open. Maybe... maybe he could find the courage to tell Zero the whole, horrible, sordid affair if he could be really sure he was giving him the whole truth and there wasn't some nasty surprise that was going to come up and smack him in the face later.

Kaname reasoned that he was older now and stronger. It was all so long ago; surely he could deal with the memories in a clear-headed, clinical manner now. _Maybe_. How could he be sure? How could he be certain of the result when he didn't really know what lay behind the locked doors?

He _did_ know though, didn't he? He'd not been a complete fool, knowing the danger of indulging in complete forgetfulness and denial. After all, those who did not remember the past were oft doomed to repeat it. He'd left himself with more than enough memories to know_ what_ had happened... at least, up to a point. It was just the details he hadn't needed... right? Or was there something other than just more of the same beyond the point where his memory blanked out? He couldn't be sure. Once, he had been, but now... after his dreams and the disturbing flashbacks he was having... now he wondered. He wondered what he had done and if there was a reason he had _not _let himself remember. The answers to those questions remained just beyond his reach, trapped in the prism.

Instinctively, it bothered Kaname to think there might be information about an opponent that he should know and didn't, but then again... it might give said opponent a leg up if he was weighted down with painful details that he had obviously felt the need to lock away in the past. But it was a young teenage boy, little more than a child who had needed to lock away those memories. He could handle it now, surely... why was he so afraid?

In the shower, Zero could sense that Kaname had entered his room. He found himself smiling slightly under the hot water. His lover could be so predictable sometimes. He liked to come into the other room when Zero was showering and wait for him on the bed. On more than one occasion, he had exited the shower to find the pureblood completely naked, lounging on his coverlet and waiting for him. It was far too easy to remember what it felt like as he slid onto the bed, over his lover, Kaname's flesh warm beneath his and Zero gave a rueful smile as he found himself reacting quite strongly to those thoughts. Perhaps it was twisted, but it wasn't unusual for him to be easily aroused after a hunt. It probably had to do with the leftover adrenaline and the way his hunter and vampire natures had merged when it came to carrying out his duties. He never wanted to _enjoy_ what he did... but he could not deny that the danger of it, if nothing else, was quite a rush.

He soaped himself a little more firmly, resisting the urge to touch himself which would only feed the fire. Kaname had been kind of a flake lately, so Zero wasn't sure what to expect. Usually though, if his lover came to his room after they'd been fighting, it was with the intent of engaging in make-up sex. The sweetly devious pureblood knew that if Zero accepted, it meant the fight was really over. Just at the moment, Zero was not feeling adverse to making that kind of treaty. With everything that had happened, it seemed like their arguments had happened yesterday instead of only that morning. He wasn't upset anymore, too much had happened and he found that his desire to be with Kaname was definitely outweighing any need to stay angry.

It was a crappy situation that they had found themselves in over this whole Orion and Mission Oil deal, but it was one that they would face together, and Zero already felt better for at least having had an opportunity to try to do something to help.

Kaname was still distracted by his inner quandaries, but managed to hear Zero exiting the bathroom in time to quickly slip the cube back into the pocket of his robe as the hunter entered, towels around his neck and waist, his hair freshly damp from the shower.

Zero noticed the move, but didn't think much about it; it was Kaname's thoughtful expression that caught his attention. The pureblood didn't exactly look like he wanted to make out, which was slightly disappointing, but he didn't let that show. Instead, he turned a questioning look upon his lover as he pulled the towel from his shoulders and dropped it onto the back of a chair. "Something wrong?" he inquired quietly.

Kaname shook his head as his gaze turned towards the other boy, a little relieved that Zero hadn't objected or even reacted to his presence inside the hunter's sanctuary. "Not particularly, I was just thinking." It wasn't really a lie. Still, Zero wasn't totally convinced.

"Oh, what about?" the hunter held the towel around his waist with one hand while digging in his dresser drawer for his pajamas with the other. He was pretty well past the point of feeling self conscious about changing clothes in front of his lover. They had seen and explored just about every inch of one another many times by now. Zero's warm, relaxed body felt a tingly surge of renewed interest as that thought led to some rather erotic memories of just _how _thoroughly he knew the pureblood's body, inside and out.

Kaname shrugged, hands sliding into his pockets as he watched Zero drop the towel and change into a pair of loose silk boxers with quietly rapt attention. Zero kept his back to him, but his gaze slid across the lean, muscular shape of Zero's back, butt and thighs and the strong, graceful curves of his hips. It was definitely a good way to take his mind off the issues that troubled him. His fingers played silently with the cube in his pocket.

"I was thinking of Pandora, actually," the pureblood admitted, telling part of the truth. He was watching his lover closely, trying to gauge if he was still in the dog house or not. Zero was acting almost disturbingly normal and Kaname wasn't sure what to make of it. Them being able to make small talk like this had to be a good sign, right?

When Zero turned around, his loose boxers could not hide that he was feeling at least a little aroused. The sight made Kaname's gut quiver both from desire and apprehension. The first he embraced, the second he tried to kick away scornfully. That was a good sign too, wasn't it?

Zero's eyebrows went up. He considered and then decided to dispense with wearing a t-shirt to bed. It was a warm night and the boxers were enough. He looked back towards Kaname as he shut the dresser drawer. Actually... he kind of felt himself hoping that he wasn't going to be in the boxers very long. He wanted to be with the pureblood, wanted to focus on the beautiful, strong yet soft body that he knew was hidden under the robe and to forget all about torn and broken bodies or ones that turned into dust. He wasn't sure whether Kaname was going to be game though, and he wasn't ready to be taken again so soon after this morning, so he bided his time.

"Pandora? You mean as in _Pandora's Box_, Pandora? Or somebody else by the same name?" he inquired, wondering if anyone would really be mean enough to name their child after such a well known ancient cautionary tale. He wouldn't put it past a vampire though, he supposed. "Because if you're sitting here at this hour, pondering Greek mythology, it's no wonder you look like you've got a headache." Crossing back to the bed, Zero dropped down onto it next to Kaname. He sprawled carelessly on his back and stretched the kinks out of his spine, letting his tired muscles relax. It had been a really long day. Oddly enough though, he wasn't tired. The almost jittery left over energy and adrenaline from the hunt had him thinking about things other than sleep.

Kaname grinned wryly, his gaze tracking Zero. He turned to sit sideways as Zero dropped down next to him. "Yes, I mean _that _Pandora," he asserted, enjoying the soothing effect of their light conversation and the fact that Zero apparently seemed to have forgiven him. Subtle wasn't Zero's thing, it would have been obvious if he was still angry or in a bad mood. Kaname actually liked that transparency about his lover. "She was given a box with dreadful things inside, and she opened it. Do you think it was weakness, as is usually supposed, that prompted her actions? Or was it actually strength because she thought she could face what was inside?" the pureblood mused aloud, his gaze going somewhat distant as they slid thoughtfully to the wall.

Zero's eyes narrowed slightly as his gaze rested on Kaname. He didn't know why, but he felt like this wasn't a random conversation at all. Drat Kaname and his bizarre subtlety... "I always thought it was curiosity. Wasn't that the whole gist of the story?" He pointed out. "Curiosity killed the cat and all that? I mean, Pandora didn't _know _what was in the box, wasn't that the whole problem?" Zero was a little hazy on the details to be honest, but he was fairly sure that was the case.

Kaname nodded slowly. "True, she didn't know," he conceded, admitting that the analogy was not perfect... or maybe it was. "But if she had... or if she had at least guessed... would it have taken courage, or stupidity to lift the lid, I wonder?"

"Personally, I'm going with stupidity. Kaname... what's all this about?" Zero asked softly, leaning up on one elbow with a concerned look.

Kaname smiled easily and shrugged, lying much more convincingly this time. "About? It's about Pandora. You asked what I was thinking and I told you. Don't blame me if the answer is over your head." The small bit of taunt in the last comment made Zero's eyebrows rise skeptically again.

The hunter smirked, shaking his head in amused disbelief. "Some things deserve to be missed," he retorted. "Kaname, I swear I will never understand how your mind works." Actually, Zero thought he could make some pretty good guesses. After the revelations in the car earlier, he thought Kaname was making veiled reference to the possible Pandora's Box of continuing to pursue whatever may lie behind Yuki's death. He knew the pureblood had always blamed himself for that and possibly finding confirmation that he had indeed been the reason someone wanted her dead was going to dig into old wounds. Zero didn't want to go there right now, or to try to figure out how he felt about it all, so he happily feigned ignorance.

Leaning up, he curled a hand in Kaname's burgundy robe, pulling the pureblood down towards him and stealing a slow kiss. "How about forgetting the Greeks for a little while?" he murmured somewhat suggestively.

Kaname was only too happy to agree, melting almost immediately into Zero's kiss and feeling warmth thread strongly through him. The pureblood's hands ran worshipfully up his lover's sides. "Does this mean... you're not angry with me anymore?" he asked softly, the hesitant light of hope in his aching gaze irresistibly compelling.

Zero gave him a small smile, promising smile. "Not necessarily... I think I ought to punish you, what do you think?" The playful tenderness in his heated gaze prevented any possible misinterpretation of his meaning. Obviously, he wasn't angry.

As intended, Zero felt Kaname's whole body tremble against him and the pureblood's dark eyes turned black with desire. Kaname was funny that way. Zero had discovered that his lover really liked it when he talked to him in that manner.

Kaname's breath escaped him in a soft, excited exhalation that brushed warmly against Zero's cheek due to their proximity. "Yes, Zero... yes, I think you should," he murmured huskily.

Zero kissed his way slowly across Kaname's jaw and down the side of his neck. "Tsk, you should be careful what you wish for, you know." He nipped the sensitive skin at the base of the pureblood's throat and Kaname jerked against him with a very attractive little gasp. "After all, I _so _owe you for that whole restroom fiasco earlier..." The hunter's smile turned momentarily devilish.

Kaname chuckled, returning the hunter's soft, hungry kisses as Zero tugged him down until he was almost laying spread atop the younger man, Zero's strong hands caressing and cupping his rear through the pureblood's silky robe with passionate possessiveness. "Whatever you say, Zero," he murmured, hands resting on either side of Zero's head as he softly parted his lips and took his lover's warm, probing tongue into his mouth, allowing himself to be claimed.


	10. My Love Is Just Waiting

_A/N: Huge citrusfest alert for this chapter and the next. :) In order to keep this chapter from getting massively too long (22 pages and still writing) I have had to split it into two chapters. So I apologize if it leaves you hanging, but at least you will have another one to look forward to fairly soon. ;) Next chapter's title will be "To Turn Your Tears to Roses" which completes this chapter's title, and is taken from a song called "Whispers in the Dark" by Skillet. I'll post the full lyrics and a link to the song over on my blog, it works wonderfully for these chapters and this story. _

**Chapter Ten: "My Love Is Just Waiting..."**

Zero tilted his head, tongue teasing Kaname's teeth and fangs as he tasted the other's mouth, savoring the smooth, velvety surface on the inside of the pureblood's lower lip. His fingers combed through Kaname's hair and then down his shoulders, sliding effortlessly under the silky robe and pushing it slowly off his lover's shoulders.

He broke the kiss, letting his head fall back to rest flat on the bed again long enough to admire Kaname's perfect, pale body as the robe slid down the pureblood's arms to his elbows, revealing strong but slender shoulders. It would have been embarrassing to him to admit it, but he found Kaname's shoulders incredibly sexy for some reason. Especially when his shirts slid down them like the robe was doing now, making it seem as if the cloth was gently worshiping his lover's soft, touchable skin as it slid away, revealing the pureblood bit by bit before the hunter's eyes. It was like un-wrapping the most delightful of presents, and it was his. His to explore, and to adore. That thought still left him with a certain amount of awed wonder, even after all this time.

Zero groaned softly in his throat, the sound rumbling like a purr of appreciation. His hands slid back up to grip his lover's pale shoulders and he pushed off against the bed with his legs and elbows, flipping them over and easily tumbling Kaname beneath him.

Kaname's dark hair fanned on the bedspread around his head as he smiled up at Zero, shivering softly when the hunter dipped his silver head and kissed the brunette's shoulder, licking and caressing the smooth skin slowly. The hunter's hot mouth followed a meandering, invisible line from the outside curve of the shoulder inward, spreading tantalizing kisses across pureblood's collarbone.

"I might have a present for you..." Zero murmured against Kaname's skin as he adored it with his lips and tongue.

Kaname raised an eyebrow, a little surprised and curious. "Oh really?" he returned a bit breathlessly, running his hands through Zero's hair and savoring its wiry softness. "Does it come with a receipt?" he teased, the grin in his voice obvious.

Zero chuckled against him and lifted his head, pinning Kaname's hands to the bed on either side of him for a moment. "No, but if it works out, I don't think you'll want to return it." He wanted to tell Kaname about what had happened tonight with Khang, but he didn't want to get his lover's hopes up until he knew if it would come to anything or not. "I'm not sure about the delivery, but if things come together, you'll get it tomorrow morning," he said simply, enjoying the chance to be the mysterious one for once.

Kaname looked intrigued and smiled, fingers curling through Zero's hair again as soon as the hunter released him. "Oh, it's a surprise, is it?"

Zero lifted his head long enough to nod. "Yup," he said simply, indicating that the pureblood would get no more out of him on the subject just now. His hands slid down to Kaname's sash, undoing the loose knot and easing the robe completely open. The hunter felt his heartbeat speeding up.

Kaname's usual style of dress meant that he wore a lot of high-collared, long sleeve shirts and slacks. They looked wonderful on him, naturally, but also covered almost all the body beneath. Maybe that was part of why Zero especially loved the act of peeling his clothing away – Kaname was often wearing so damn much of it. Ties, suit coats, vests, shirts, undershirts... he didn't even remove his shirt or undress enough to go swimming unless they were alone. It was almost like he was hiding his perfection away from the prying eyes of the rest of the world. They did not get to see it, but Zero did. There was something exotic about finally being able to strip the graceful brunette down to his skin, to where there was nothing at all between them but the flesh and blood frames that carried their entwined souls and their raggedly beating hearts.

Right now, though, Kaname wasn't wearing much at all, and Zero was quite pleased to find his lover completely naked beneath the silky robe. His amethyst eyes darkened a shade in arousal as his hands glided across Kaname's sides, feeling the way the pureblood's breathing was already beginning to accelerate. The strong and yet somehow delicate ribcage expanded and contracted swiftly under the hunter's fingers as the pureblood was laid naked under his lover's gaze.

Kaname shivered softly at the chill. Only the chill. _Only that_, he told himself firmly. The chill was from within, however, more than without. If he wasn't careful, he was going to break out into a cold sweat. His body felt uncomfortably frigid, but Zero's gaze was warm and enticing.

The ex-human slid quickly out of his boxers and straddled his lover's thighs, kneeling over him. Kaname wrapped his arm around Zero's back and pulled him close, burying his face in the damp silver hair to muffle the too-rapid cadence of his breathing. He inhaled Zero's fragrance deeply, almost desperately, willing himself to become lost in it. He wanted Zero so much. He _wanted _to want Zero so much. He wanted to not be afraid.

Zero's hard, warm body felt burning hot against the almost unnaturally cool skin of the pureblood's inner thighs as it pressed against him before sliding higher and brushing smoothly against the pureblood's own chilled, but hardening body. Kaname gasped softly when that fiery firmness slid lengthwise against his own. The sweet ache in his gut turned into a tense knot of yearning and he pressed his hips up, pushing against Zero.

Zero exhaled with a soft hiss as their bodies touched, flesh sliding on flesh and sending pleasure tingling through him. Kaname was so cold in his arms. The pureblood's body temperature naturally ran a little lower than the ex-human's, but it seemed even more pronounced tonight. There were faint goose bumps on the graceful, pale arms and the lithe body trembled slightly under him. Even the pureblood's hardening arousal was cool and smooth as it pressed urgently up against his shower-damp body. The coolness of the beautiful, milky skin gave the fleeting, exotic impression that Kaname might have been a statue of unearthly beauty, carved from the most exquisite ivory and coming slowly to life under the hands of his Pygmalion. Kaname's soft, shuddering gasp, as if inhaling for the first time, complimented the ephemeral illusion.

Realistically, Zero assumed that the room was colder than he realized, since his body was still warm and toasty from the hot shower. He pressed closer to Kaname, gathering his lover more fully in his arms and covering as much of his skin as possible, trying to heat the chilly body with his own and protect Kaname from the cold.

Zero's warmth burned pleasurably into Kaname's cold frame, seeping into him and making him shiver harder, but from enjoyment this time. He all but burrowed into that warmth, his breath coming a little easier as Zero held him close.

For a little while, the couple allowed themselves the languid, breathtaking luxury of lying flush together and feeling every curve and angle of their bodies against one another, some soft, some hard... and some getting quickly harder by the minute. They rocked slowly in unison, mouths trading slow, exploratory kisses as they let the heat pooling between them grow gradually hotter and hotter. Their firm lengths pressed and rubbed, teasing soft moans and warm shivers from both bodies, tingling with the promise of things to come.

Slowly, Zero could feel Kaname's body warming under him, flushing, blood rushing enticingly to the surface of the pale skin. The pureblood's soft sounds of enjoyment coaxed forth an even hotter flame inside the hunter.

Kaname kissed the side of Zero's neck, licking and sucking skillfully while his long fingers played with the hunter's earrings, his nails lightly brushing the sensitive skin behind the ex-human's ear, almost unconsciously tracing the blood seal he had placed there some years ago. _This was Zero. His own dear, wonderful Zero. He had nothing to fear. Nothing. _Kaname held onto that like he held onto Zero. Tightly. Very tightly.

Zero's breath caught in his chest and came out in a shuddering exhale against Kaname's ear. The seal was _very _sensitive to Kaname's touch, as was his bite area, which Kaname was exploring with lips and tongue and the dual sensations sent gut curling shivers of excitement through his body.

Kaname's hand slid between them, capturing Zero and playing with him skillfully. _Too _skillfully, if Zero didn't want to let this happen too quickly. Groaning and smiling, Zero caught Kaname's wrists and pulled them up over the pureblood's head. "Ah, ah, ah... behave now," he teased huskily. Tugging the sash free of the robe Kaname had been wearing, which was still trapped partially under the pureblood, Zero used the silk cord to tie his lover's wrists together, knotting it tightly and then finishing it off into an absurdly flouncy little bow.

Giving his lover a playful, tender smile, Zero kissed Kaname on the nose. "There. Much better." That particular smile and this kind of beautiful attitude was somewhat rare for Zero. He was obviously feeling very comfortable and confident. Kaname would have done anything to protect that confidence and to not see that lovely little smile disappear. Including smiling back and pretending that a cold, hard chill had not zinged down his spine at the sensation of being bound.

Normally, he loved this kind of play, something Zero knew quite well. It wasn't as if Zero was even being terribly serious about it. Kaname could have wriggled out of the "bonds" without exerting himself much at all, but of course he _wouldn't_ because this was how Zero wanted him. No, there was nothing at all sensible or logical about what he was feeling. Yet for one horrible moment the flimsy silk cord around his wrists felt like chains, and the man leaning over him was not silver-headed and smiling adoringly, but dark and smirking.

Kaname clamped his eyes shut, biting his lip and managing to turn his unintentional whimper into a moan, writhing under Zero to hide the true sensation he was battling. "Tease..." he panted. His chest was hammering and his skin felt clammy. _Go away, just go away! _Kaname almost pleaded with the demons in his mind. He mustn't let Zero sense what he was feeling. Zero was too cautious, too serious and frankly, too considerate. If he noticed Kaname's unease he would think he was doing something wrong and pull back, the seductively playful mood would be spoilt and the pureblood would _really_ feel like crap.

"Patience is a virtue, they say," Zero teased back, kissing Kaname soundly. The pureblood's eyes flickered open again, happily drowning in the silvery amethyst depths gazing down at him. There was such love in those eyes, and they could belong to no one but Zero. It helped drive the other images away.

"_Virtue_ isn't really the first thing on my mind right now..." Kaname murmured back with a dry look. The reassuring banter helped him too.

Shifting, Zero slipped his knee between Kaname's thighs, parting them a little and pressing his arousal against the smooth, angled jut of the pureblood's hipbone. He kissed the hollow of Kaname's throat before bringing his other knee over to join the first, swiftly spreading his lover's legs open with his own. His strong, softly callused hands caught under the pureblood's knees, pushing Kaname's legs apart and back, holding them spread deliberately wide as he leaned over him.

Kaname's knees bent instinctually, his feet curling behind Zero's thighs, heels resting on the hunter's calves. As Zero's hand slid down the inside of his thigh and the hunter's mouth worked its way over to lavish attention on an aroused, pale pink nipple, Kaname felt his pulse hammering in his veins. If only it had been entirely from arousal.

Kaname closed his eyes tightly again. It should have been. Dear _God, _it should have been. He _loved _it when Zero touched him like this. A soft little groan of pleasure caught in his throat as the hunter's skilled fingers slipped into his cleft and one thumb rubbed enticingly against his entrance. Zero wasn't trying to enter yet, just rubbing slow, promising circles against the tight ring.

The pureblood felt his muscles tensing, his stomach trembling in arousal that was intensified by unease. His heart was pounding so loudly in his ears he could hardly hear. He thought he smelled almonds and anise... but that was not Zero's scent, it was... it was someone else's. His mind was playing tricks on him. His stomach lurched.

Kaname's eyes flew open again quickly and he looked around, forcing himself to take in small, mundane details about the walls and the ceiling in order to keep himself grounded in the present. The ceiling was textured, sand in the paint making a graceful, sweeping swirls across the broad expanse. His eyes traced the cloud-like curves slowly, trying to find calmness in distraction. There was no reason this should be different than the hundreds of other times Zero had made love to him. No reason at all... but it was. Because unlike almost all the other times... Kaname was afraid. He didn't want to be. There was absolutely no _reason _for him to be. But he was.

He was quite aroused, but his stomach felt like a raw bundle of nerves and he desperately didn't want Zero to pick up on that. He knew the hunter wanted him, and after what had happened earlier, after what he'd done, Kaname would be damned before he wimped out on him again. He would not and could not deny Zero this. He didn't _want_ to... but he was finding it impossible to relax and was only making himself even more tense the harder he tried to force himself to stop feeling that way.

The stupid part was that when it came down to it, his biggest fear was actually of _being _afraid. It wasn't as if he was afraid Zero was going to hurt him after all, that was ridiculous. Zero was being very tender and playful with him and besides, he would have welcomed anything Zero wanted to do to him so long as it pleased his lover. No, he was frightened that he was going to react in some way that would make Zero suspicious and either lead to questions he didn't want to answer or rekindle their unpleasant arguments from earlier. Kaname desperately didn't want that, nor did he want the past to intrude on their relationship like this. It was frustrating and incredibly stupid. Every moment that he couldn't simply relax and give himself to Zero like he wanted to drove his anxiety higher, which made it even harder to relax, which made him even more anxious, which... created an idiotic, vicious cycle wherein he was freaking out _because _he was freaking out.

Kaname was doing a good job of masking his fear, but Zero could feel the tension in his lover's muscles. His ministrations were meant to start relaxing his partner, but seemed to be having the opposite effect. He lifted his head from the pureblood's pert, flushed nipple and gave Kaname a soft, quizzical smile.

Kaname saw his head coming up in enough time to completely hide whatever struggle might have been showing in his eyes, carefully replacing it with only desire so that Zero saw nothing amiss.

"_Relax, _Kaname... you're so tense," Zero murmured, continuing to stroke Kaname's entrance while at the same time wrapping his other fist around the pureblood's arousal, giving it a couple of slow pumps to encourage the reaction he was looking for.

Kaname gasped softly, pale neck arching as his head tilted back, lips parting to reveal a sinfully enticing glimpse of his partially unsheathed fangs. Kaname tended to get aroused everywhere at the same time when Zero was touching him. The pureblood breathed raggedly through his mouth for a moment. The reaction at least was as it should be. There was no hiding the honesty of how hard his pulsing flesh was in the hunter's hand or of how much Zero turned him on. If only he could just focus on that and not think about anything else.

Kaname smiled breathlessly up at the ceiling before his dark gaze leveled with Zero again. "Why don't you _make_ me?" he murmured, using the light, playful challenge to hide the fact that he still couldn't make his muscles stop tensing up and his gut stop clenching every time Zero touched him.

Zero grinned back. _Damn, but his lover was gorgeous. _Lying naked on his back on Zero's bed, dark hair fanned on the quilt, elbows slightly bent, wrists crossed over his head and bound with that silly crimson bow, legs spread invitingly... Kaname was an irresistible picture of desire that made Zero's blood positively throb in his veins.

"Maybe I will," he retorted. He crawled off of his partner to retrieve the lube from nightstand drawer, and Kaname momentarily closed his eyes, breathing deeply and willing himself to _get a freaking grip_ before his lover returned.

Zero rooted around in the drawer for a moment before he found the tube. It was silly that picking it up and twisting the cap off still made him feel kind of awkward and embarrassed, even after all this time. He left the cap on the dresser, but took the tube with him as he crawled back across the bed.

He found Kaname lying where he'd left him, eyes closed. A soft smile played across Zero's lips. Kaname must still be really tired. Usually he was all over Zero while the hunter went for the lube - touching and kissing him and murmuring embarrassing things meant to make his partner flush. Zero figured that Kaname's weariness and stress were probably why he was so tense. It was going to be tricky trying to make love to him without causing a lot of pain when he was that tight, especially since Zero was currently feeling _very _ready. He knew once he got into that tight heat, he wasn't going to want to stop or take it slow. He had some playful punishment in mind for his lover, but Kaname had been acting so strangely vulnerable lately that he didn't want to physically hurt him, even in a pleasurable way. He was mindful of the fact that Kaname never spoke up or said anything if he was accidentally too rough, which meant he'd better try to help him relax a little before things went much farther.

Setting the tube down on the bed, Zero gently took Kaname by the shoulders again and rolled him onto his stomach, kneeling over his legs and straddling his hips.

Kaname had actually not sensed Zero's approach or even noticed the dipping of the bed because of the turmoil he was trying so hard to hide. His eyes shot open as he suddenly found himself being rolled over, the firm pressure of Zero's body against his back pinning him on his stomach. For a moment panic engulfed him, shooting spears of ice through his insides. Only his quick reflexes allowed him to check his first reaction in time to keep from thrashing or resisting. Since he was already facing the bed, Zero thankfully couldn't see the fear that darted wildly through his dark eyes before he could quickly lock it away once more.

Kaname's pulled his bound hands partially under him so that they were under his chin instead of stretched quite so vulnerably over his head. His fingers curled into the covers, his lungs heaving softly as he tried to grab back onto his control and not give away that he was feeling anything other than eager. He groaned softly and yes, he had to admit it, he'd faked that one. His heart was in his throat and he didn't feel very aroused at the moment, _damn it all_. The sudden jolt and the uncomfortable vulnerability of being trapped on his stomach had all but completely softened him, but at least the bed hid that, _thank God_. Hopefully Zero would let him stay pressed against it and wouldn't reach around or notice the problem he was having before it righted itself.

Kaname's pale cheeks flushed warmly, however, as the 'problem' persisted. It was a humiliating thing to have happen right in the middle of sex and barring when he'd drugged himself the other night it had _never _been an issue for him before. Just _thinking _about Zero was usually enough to get him going, but now not even the hunter's hands running up and down his back and sides, the warm kisses Zero was laying along his spine, nor the firm feel of the hunter's erection rubbing teasingly along the dip where his cheeks met could re-kindle his fickle body's interest. _Crap, crap, crap! _Of course, the fact that he was panicking about it was probably hindering him too.

Zero's strong fingers caressed his ribs once more and Kaname sighed softly, purring as he knew he should, as he usually would. _Please don't lift my hips, please don't lift my hips._ He found himself briefly thinking that girls had an unfair advantage in some ways... you couldn't tell so easily whether _they _were aroused or not. The weird thing was that he _was _aroused in a way, his body was still hyper aware of Zero's nearness and his stomach swirled, but he just couldn't seem to get hard again _damn-it-all-to-the-most-humiliating-hell. _

Performance anxiety was _not_ something he was used to worrying about _at all, _and he felt both strange and stupid. Kaname arched languidly, rolling his body a little against Zero, rubbing against him while carefully keeping as close to the bed as possible. He felt the hunter twitch against his backside. His lover was obviously experiencing no issues for his part. _Maybe if he could just fake it good enough, and Zero was suitably aroused, he wouldn't notice. _

Fortunately, Zero was ignoring Kaname's more problematic regions right now. Presently, Kaname felt the hunter's warm, strong hands pause their exploration and grip his shoulders. Kaname tensed, half expecting Zero to be preparing to just take him or something, but that was not the hunter's intention. Instead he kneaded the pureblood's tense shoulders slowly in his strong grip, fingers and thumbs pressing and rubbing, working their way out from Kaname's neck, down his shoulders and then across his back.

Kaname felt himself let out a shaky sigh of relief as he realized that Zero was just rubbing his back. the sound caught in his throat and turned into a little half choke that he instantly regretted, but fortunately Zero misread it. The hunter pressed his lips gently to the nape of Kaname's neck as he continued to massage him, trying to work some of the knots out of the pureblood's overly tense body.

"Shh... there's no hurry," he murmured softly against the other's skin, having mistaken Kaname's sound for one of impatience. "You said _make you... _so..." Kaname could feel Zero's slightly devilish smile against his spine. "You'll just have to wait." The warm voice was a honeyed hum as the hunter's moist lips traveled across his scapula, strong fingers tracing the angular jut of one shoulder blade before curling beneath it and lifting, trying to get the muscles to release. "Relax..."

Zero's hands were very strong and seemed to find all the right places as they attentively massaged and rubbed the pureblood's deceptively slender but well muscled back. This was, of course, why he had rolled Kaname onto his stomach in the first place. He was very aroused and he assumed Kaname was too, but his lover really did appear to need a little unwinding before they continued, and anyway, it was a bit of pay back too. Kaname usually _hated _it when Zero got him worked up and then made him wait.

Kaname _did _find himself relaxing under Zero's attentive hands and ironically, this was one time he didn't mind being 'tormented' in this way at all. What the hunter was doing felt good, _really _good. He didn't have to fake a sigh of contentment as Zero rubbed down either side of his spine with his knuckles and thumbs. Zero did not hurry, taking his time until he could finally start to feel Kaname responding under his hands.

Feeling the tension bleed out of him both because of Zero's massage, and because of the tender love the hunter was showing him by taking the time to do this, Kaname felt like he was contentedly melting into the bed. He was finally starting to feel a little welcome tingling pooling in his groin once more now too. Not quite arousal, but it was getting close. "That's really good," Kaname murmured in a deeply grateful tone. "You have the most amazing hands."

Zero smiled, pleased both at how well Kaname was relaxing and at the compliment. "Mmm... _amazing _huh? I like the sound of that..." he replied, shifting his knees between Kaname's legs again and pulling back on the pureblood's graceful waist, urging him to rock up a little so he was resting on elbows and knees, his backside elevated and presented very nicely. Zero rubbed Kaname's lower back with one hand while teasing his entrance with the other, probing it more meaningfully this time until his thumb penetrated the guarding ring and slipped inside. He massaged slowly, wringing a soft groan from his partner before he pulled out and replaced the digit with his well lubed index and middle fingers.

The warm, slick fingers eased their way in all the way past both knuckles and Kaname's warm breath trembled against the rumpled sheets. He was no longer remotely cold, and now felt so warm that perspiration glistened on his brow. He groaned softly, hesitantly spreading his knees a little further apart as Zero probed and prepped him. Wild butterflies were throwing themselves against the inside of his gut and by this point he almost couldn't tell if it was from anticipation or apprehension. Maybe both at the same time.

Zero took his time prepping his lover. He burned pleasurably in anticipation as he added a third finger, watching them slide meaningfully in and out of the pureblood's beautiful body as he stretched him. A small shudder wracked the hunter. He wanted and needed Kaname so much by now that he almost couldn't breathe and he certainly couldn't wait much longer.

He continued thrusting in and out with the fingers of one hand while his other slid around Kaname's slender waist, dipping down between his legs before Kaname could realize what was happening or think of a way to distract him. The pureblood tensed as Zero's warm fingers found out his humiliating little secret and he felt his cheeks flame hotly. His bound hands snagged a nearby pillow and pulled it close. He momentarily pressed his burning face against its coolness. _Crap._

Zero's eyebrow raised in surprise as he felt Kaname's only semi-turgid flesh, cupping it in his palm and pleasuring it with firm but gentle strokes. "What's this? I relax you a little _too _much?" he teased, smiling against the back of Kaname's shoulder. The slicked fingers inside Kaname pushed deeper, brushing sensitive nerves and making the pureblood inhale sharply against the pillow.

Kaname raised his head and scowled, doing a good job of hiding his embarrassment. "Can you blame me? You're putting me to sleep here," he teased back with a mock yawn, although it was obvious how much he had enjoyed the hunter's gentle attentions.

"Oh?" Zero's fingers plunged ruthlessly deeper, twisting and scissoring in a way sure to get his lover's attention. Given the pureblood's taunting tone, he deciding that Kaname was just playing with him and trying to present reasons for the hunter to "punish" him as they'd been teasing about earlier. Kaname often liked to play the naughty roll in order to coax and provoke Zero, who was generally the more hesitant half of their kinkier encounters.

Kaname arched slightly, sucking his breath in again at the sudden sensation. A moment later the fingers withdrew completely and he felt the loss sharply.

"Guess we're going to have to fix that then, huh? Don't want to put you to _sleep_..." Zero smiled adoringly, giving his lover's rear a sharp little smack with his palm. _Damn, _Kaname made an incredibly enticing site sprawled on the bed like this, pale legs spread, slender hips raised as if begging to be taken. Gripping his lover's hips with both hands and lifting them a little more, the hunter took that invitation, pushing swiftly and suddenly into the body under him. It seemed pretty obvious that Kaname wanted him, and he didn't expect it to take much encouragement for his body to start showing it again.

Zero felt elated fire ripple through his nerve endings as he finally allowed himself to find blissful sanctuary inside his lover's body. Kaname felt incredible and the hunter groaned in strained ecstasy.

Kaname had been well prepped and Zero wasn't overly rough with him, but he wasn't going slow either as he pressed vigorously into his lover's tight heat, urgently coaxing and demanding that Kaname take all of him as quickly as possible.

Kaname gasped audibly, grabbing the pillow he was leaning against and holding it tightly as Zero's wonderfully hot, hard body forced its way into his. He pressed his face against the back of his bound hands as his body stretched to accommodate, breathing so swiftly he was hyperventilating. His stomach was doing summersaults.

Zero felt good, he felt _right... _but it was damn weird to be feeling this sensation without the usual craze of heated desire that usually accompanied it. It hurt a little, but not in any very terrible way. More distracting was the utter strangeness of really being so very _aware _of the hard length filling him. Usually he was so busy wanting Zero to go deeper and hit the sweet spots inside him that he didn't think much about it. In his current state however, he was keenly aware of every motion and sensation as the blunt hardness plumbed his hidden depths. He was able to feel it when Zero reached as deep as his fingers had been able to travel and the lube started to wear thin, skin catching on skin and increasing the friction. Zero's soft, agonized hiss of pleasure as he pushed harder into the obviously intoxicating resistance was a beautiful sound to the pureblood.

He shifted his hips a little on the pillow, getting his knees a little further under him and spreading his thighs wider in an effort to ease the penetration. Zero's strong hands gripped his sides and Kaname could feel the eager tremble in his lover's body as the hunter found intense pleasure in their coupling. Zero's hands were slender but so wonderfully strong. Kaname loved them. He loved the way they could be both soft and hard at the same time. Loved the exotic feeling of the lightly callused palms and fingertips brushing against his own supple, unblemished pureblood skin which was incapable of building and retaining things like calluses.

The discomfort of the rapid penetration increased significantly as Zero neared full sheath, but the ex-human's enthralling little gasps and moans of ecstasy helped ease the anxious, panicky fluttering inside the pureblood a bit. This is what he wanted. He wanted to please Zero, and he wanted desperately to remember that it was Zero behind him.

"Tell me I belong to you..." Kaname groaned softly, begging. He needed to hear Zero's voice, he wanted the hunter to talk to him.

Zero smiled tenderly, his breath coming ragged and short as Kaname's body obligingly swallowed him whole and he sought complete penetration. He kissed the back of Kaname's shoulder, his lips trembling a little. His hands slid up Kaname's sides, gripping the pureblood's shoulders for leverage.

"You... belong... to... me..." he murmured obligingly, his voice laden with heat and adoration, each word punctuated by a series of deep, decisive thrusts that took him as deep as he could go. _"Ah..." _Zero moaned as his hips pressed flush against his lover's backside and Kaname's body tightened around him. There were no words on earth that could describe that incredible feeling.

Kaname panted softly, his every sense tingling with awareness of Zero's body and the completeness of their joining. It didn't matter at this point whether he was aroused or not, he was still enjoying this for the intimacy of the act and because of the pleasure Zero was so obviously experiencing. Actually, in a weird way it was kind of hot - this oddly crisp awareness of what was happening, this ability to really see, feel and observe what Zero was like as he made love without a cloud of sensation coloring his perceptions.

"Make me believe it," Kaname groaned breathlessly against the pillow he was clutching, his heart still thudding in his ears, his fingers digging into the soft pillowcase. Zero's grip on his shoulders was tight enough to make his arms and fingers tingle. While his odd detachment was pleasurably unique to a certain extent... he didn't want to feel _too_ disconnected. He needed to know this was happening to _him. _That Zero was making love to _him. _That Zero wanted _him. _"Please Zero... I want to be yours."

A strangled groan answered him and Zero pulled his hips back before thrusting fully in again in one swift motion. Kaname leaned forward slightly, unintentionally pulling away from the stinging sensation of the motion even though he didn't really want to. Fortunately, Zero didn't let him, his hands tightening on Kaname's shoulders and dragging the pureblood back to him firmly.

The brunette whimpered encouragingly and Zero repeated the motion again, and again. His actions were slow and purposeful. Each stroke was breath-stealing hard and complete, but he wasn't thrusting into his lover with wild abandon. Instead he would pull back, almost all the way out, leaving Kaname's stretched passage tingling and aching slightly from the last hard thrust. Then he would stay there until Kaname was nearly squirming, body tense and trembling as it anticipated what was coming, feeling he was going to go mad waiting for the next stroke. Then Zero would push forward again with all the strength of his lean, muscular frame, driving into his lover's body all the way to the hilt. After that he'd pause again, letting Kaname feel how fully he was filled and appreciate how completely he was being claimed before repeating the whole procedure. Zero was being unusually deliberate about his possession of the pureblood's body, as if he was indeed trying to make the point Kaname had requested.

"You _are_ mine," Zero whispered against his the back of his lover's neck as he leaned forward over him, shifting a little to allow him even more control over his motions. The hunter's voice was both adoring and possessive in a way that made Kaname's insides flutter warmly. They both knew it went without saying that the same was true in reverse.

"Always and forever," the ex-human's panted vow was soft, but sincere. "And tonight, my dear, I am going to make love to you..." Zero struck deep, grinding against a _very _sensitive place inside Kaname and the pureblood gave a lovely little groaning yelp of appreciation. "... until you can never ..." Zero did it again and Kaname clutched harder at the pillow, nerves sparking intensely and feeding a very welcome fire back to his groin. "... _ever_..."

"Ahh!" Kaname pressed his face against the pillow, sensation flowing though him like electricity.

"... doubt it again."

Kaname could feel the shower damp ends of Zero's short hair brushing against the back of his shoulder. He trembled and moaned softly, his fingers digging desperately into the pillow each time Zero claimed him until he'd punctured it and could feel the softness of the feathers inside under his touch. _Oops, he was going to have to get Zero a new one._ His pulse hammered in his ears. The strange beauty of being so fully at Zero's disposal was, ironically, starting to finally turn him on. The intensely perfect way Zero was hitting his sweet spot each time he thrust forward certainly wasn't hurting either.

The pureblood whimpered a soft, ecstatic curse as Zero continued the incredible, torturous motions relentlessly, spending a good several minutes focusing on letting Kaname know just how much he belonged to him. Finally, Zero's motions started becoming less deliberate and more urgent as his own pleasure began building past bearable.

Zero started thrusting faster and more rhythmically as desire overtook him. Kaname felt one warm hand trailing down his stomach towards his groin, obviously intent on making sure that his lover was enjoying himself too.

Kaname _was_ aroused now, but not as fully as usual, so he released the pillow he was holding and reached down, quickly arrested that searching hand before it could find its goal. He was kind of self conscious and the last thing he wanted to do was send Zero the message he wasn't enjoying himself. He _was, _no matter what weirdness was up with his body.

"No... I only want to feel you inside me," Kaname panted seductively, pushing back into his lover's urgent rhythm. He brought Zero's fingers to his mouth, sucking on them erotically, mimicking the hunter's motions as he rocked within him.

Zero couldn't very well find any objections to _that _desire and Kaname was pleased to feel the hunter's arousal jerk and twitch within him, indicating how much what the pureblood said had excited him. "Kaname..." Zero whispered his name like something between a curse and a prayer as his motions became even rougher and more urgent, his burning need apparent and, to Kaname, completely breathtaking.

The hunter was lost. Kaname felt so good, he fell so perfectly into his lover's rhythm and the teasing, seductive swirl of that skilled tongue on his fingers was just about the last straw. Zero pressed his eyes close as molten fire welled in his gut and fists of pleasure tightened spasmodically inside him. He cried out almost soundlessly, gasping, his body jerking as he crested. His hips slapped urgently against Kaname's round, perfect rear and he accidentally pushed his fingers just as deep into Kaname's mouth.

The pureblood gagged slightly, but quickly caught himself, swallowing around Zero's fingers and sucking on them as Zero shuddered and cried out against his back. Kaname craned his neck around so he could get a glimpse of his lover's face. Zero was beautiful when he climaxed. Kaname felt the radiant pleasure of his partner's bliss wash over him like a warm wave. It was silly maybe, but it made him feel proud and worthwhile somehow, that Zero could take such pleasure in being with him.

Zero collapsed against his lover's back, his warm, heavy head resting between the pureblood's shoulder blades, panting breaths brushing his skin. Kaname remained on elbows and knees, shifting just a little in order to better support them both as Zero's weight settled on him. The hunter was still inside him and did not appear in a hurry to move. Kaname felt something warm trickling down the inside of his thigh and smiled faintly. It was a little embarrassing, but at the same time he liked the tangible evidence of his beloved's pleasure.

After he seemed to recover a little, Zero started stroking his lover's sides and hips with slow, lazy enjoyment. The hunter murmured soft, inane compliments that would have embarrassed him at any time, outside the incredible afterglow of their lovemaking and Kaname enjoyed basking in his lover's adoration. Presently the pureblood chuckled.

"You know, I really like it when you come back from a hunt..." he teased softly.

"Twit," Zero retorted.

Kaname pressed his hips back a little. The hunter was still hard and Kaname doubted he was completely done. "Look who's talking."

Zero chuckled, his hand sliding down across Kaname's stomach. The touch turned tentative as it reached his manhood and Kaname resisted a sigh. He could almost _feel _the hunter's sudden frown as he gripped Kaname's semi-erect flesh a bit accusingly, noting the lack of stickiness anywhere about. He pulled out of Kaname and rolled the pureblood onto his back, giving him a somewhat reproachful look, or at least as reproachful as he could manage when his senses were still sparking with bliss and he felt almost idiotically happy and satisfied.

"Kaname..."

Kaname could tell he was about to either get a lecture on speaking up if he wasn't having fun or else have some very inconvenient questions posed. Neither option appealed to him at the moment, so he smiled up slyly at Zero instead. "I know..." he purred, threading his arms around behind Zero's neck and wrapping his knees around the other boy's hips. "You're not doing very good so far, are you?" He leaned up and bit Zero's ear lobe teasingly, playing it between his teeth. "I expect you to try a lot harder. I thought you were supposed to be punishing me, after all..." he pretended to pout.

"Try _harder, _huh?" Zero retorted, raising his eyebrows, convinced now that Kaname was just messing with him. The pureblood was really asking for it. "Well, now that you mention it, our location is hardly as... unusual... as it was earlier." Zero straightened up, getting off of Kaname and then off of the bed.

Kaname rolled onto his side, looking at his lover quizzically and wondering what he was up to.

"Come on," Zero beckoned for his lover to follow. "We can't exactly find a public restroom around here, but let's try some other locations and see if _they _do it for you." His mischievous grin warned Kaname that he had plans.

"Okay..." the pureblood said slowly as he brought his bound hands down in front of him and slid off the bed to join Zero, not quite sure what his lover had in mind.


	11. To Turn your Tears to Roses

_A/N: Okay, second part of the scene now, unforgivably long as usual and a citrus alert applys for the whole chapter, along with certain elements of kinkiness, so if you don't like, or if you're tired of these scenes already (don't blame you!) then don't read please. Thanks! *sweatdrop* Also, please be patient with our boys. Yes, Zero doesn't fully understand what's up with Kaname, but even so he is still exactly what his lover needs right now. I know everyone is waiting for things to just come out already, but it's not yet time for that and right now it's just important that Kaname knows Zero loves him. :) I swear next chapter we'll get back to the plot. _

**Chapter Eleven: "To Turn your Tears to Roses"**

Zero watched Kaname as the pureblood slid carefully off the bed, hands still bound in front of him. Kaname had seemed to be goading him before, but there was something hesitant in the pureblood's eyes that made the hunter pause and lean in to kiss him softly and thoroughly.

Kaname read the silent question in Zero's kiss. His lover was asking him if he really wanted to play or not. Kaname realized that he must be sending mixed signals again, but instead of feeling frustrated this time, he instead felt oddly reassured. The truth was, he knew that whatever Zero had in mind, if he truly didn't want to do it, all he had to do was say so and Zero would stop. But stopping certainly wasn't what he wanted to do right now. After all, Zero may have found relief already, but he hadn't, and now that his initial panic was wearing off, that was something he definitely wanted to rectify. Kaname smiled deeply at Zero, dark eyes sparkling with curiosity and invitation that were genuine. He gave his eyebrows a little raise as if to ask _"well... what now?"_

Zero smiled too, quickly sliding back into the mood. He used the edge of the sheet to wipe himself clean and gave Kaname's shoulder a little push downwards. The pureblood got the message and obediently knelt on the floor in front of him, struggling just a trifle to find his balance without his hands. "Okay then, first... get me ready to take you again," he instructed, stroking Kaname's hair lightly and tugging the dark head forward slightly to convey his meaning. That was hardly necessary since Kaname was now very obviously eye-level with his lover's navel. The hunter was trying to act all smooth and dominant, unconsciously attempting to mime the confidence that Kaname often seemed to exude so easily, but he felt his face heat over the words as soon as he said them.

When Zero vamped out, he was very dominant by nature and had no problem taking over and doing all kinds of things. But he wasn't in that state at the moment. His vampire instincts were definitely there, but they weren't in control. This was just him, attempting to be a little kinky with his lover. _Kinky_ was usually more Kaname's territory, but Zero was not uninspired in that realm, especially as he grew more comfortable in their relationship and _especially_ when, like now, Kaname was challenging or egging him on.

Kaname certainly didn't seem to find anything lacking in Zero's behavior and he gave a warm little shiver as he gazed up at him from the floor. The pureblood did not hesitate to comply with the demand, quickly leaning forward and licking Zero's semi-hard flesh, sucking and teasing him with relish until the hunter was quite fully erect once more.

As he did, Kaname felt a certain level of hesitant confidence return. He had pushed through the fear and not let it stop him from being with Zero. That was very important to the pureblood. On some level, he had _needed _to prove to himself that he could do this, that he was not so damaged he couldn't be good to his lover. It was like taking back a piece of himself which had been stolen. This reassurance was helping to quell or at least mollify the rising cycles of apprehensive fear that had been afflicting him before. The first time was the hardest, having that come off all right made him a little more relaxed, even heading into whatever unknown Zero had planned for them.

Actually, as Kaname shifted on his knees and licked Zero deliberately, he had to admit that the unknown in this case was a more enticing prospect than the known. There was less chance of Zero thinking there was something wrong with him if they were branching out into unconventional territory. If Zero intended to "punish" him, then he would be expected to be apprehensive and hesitant, it could be part of the game and not something he had to be petrified of showing. Ironically, that mere fact meant that Kaname was already feeling much _less _apprehensive - or at least, less apprehensive in a negative way. The good kind of apprehension was still there. It was rather difficult to try and explain, but it was rather exciting, kneeling here and wondering what his lover had in mind.

Zero panted softly as he watched the graceful form at his feet, the dark head bobbing with devote attentiveness. Kaname's hot mouth and the erotic quality of watching the kneeling, naked body tugged at his instincts and somewhere in the next few breathtaking minutes Zero's sense of awkwardness vanished away like fading mist. Kaname was just that incredible.

He swallowed his lover skillfully, tongue swirling against him and intentionally getting him very wet as Zero's instructions regarding _what_ exactly Kaname was getting him ready for rattled around in his head, bringing a light flush to his face and a warm, fluttering pulse to his groin. The soft ache between his legs and the wetness trickling down his thigh as he knelt emphasized the point and Kaname shifted, breathing a little more rapidly around the heated flesh that he was lathing with mouth and tongue.

It was hard for Zero to stop the lovely stimulation, but finally he did, pulling Kaname's head away when he was ready enough. He helped Kaname back to his feet and found the pureblood looking at him with a hesitant but intense need for approval written all over his flushed features. Zero leaned in and kissed his lover again lightly. "Perfect," he murmured, wanting Kaname to know that he adored how willing the pureblood was to play along. "Now let's go find some place... interesting."

Zero grabbed the pureblood's tied wrists and released the bow part of the knot, freeing one end of the sash to use as a leash. Giving it a little tug, he led Kaname out of the bedroom and into the bathroom.

"Hm... let's try here," the hunter mused aloud. Before Kaname quite understood what he meant, Zero had bent him over the sink and kicked his legs apart, necessitating that Kaname try to grab onto the inner lip of the sink bowl with his bound hands for balance. He felt Zero enter him in one swift move and was quickly spreading his feet wider apart, struggling to keep his balance and ease the rapid, demanding penetration as Zero gripped his hips and took him again.

For a moment, Kaname reeled for mental balance, the unexpectedness of the situation catching him off guard. But this time at least the jolt of fright was less nauseating and far more arousing. There was an uneasy moment of struggling to keep away the past, but then Zero's voice reached in and pulled him firmly to the present.

"Look up, Kaname," Zero ordered bit breathlessly. Kaname did and found himself staring into the bathroom mirror, with a clear view of Zero behind him and of his own body... including the part where Zero was joining with him. Their eyes locked, and Kaname felt the knot inside him start to melt away as he was captured by the intense desire and love in his partner's gaze. This was so different and unique that there could be no other association with it. The only face he saw looking back at him was Zero's.

After a moment, Kaname's gaze in the mirror was inexorably drawn downwards. The pureblood's eyes darkened in lust and arousal as he watched, almost mesmerized by the sight of Zero's body sinking in and out of his own.

Zero smiled as he saw where his lover's attention had been drawn. He shifted a little, pushing Kaname further over the sink counter and lifting his hips so his lover was presented with an even better view of himself being taken. "You look so hot like this, Kaname..." he groaned softly, thrusting in slowly and showing the pureblood how deeply was being taken.

Kaname groaned, feeling fire spike sharply through him. Zero started slow, but was swiftly unable to resist moving faster and harder. The hunter's hips slapped rhythmically against the pureblood's backside. Kaname gasped, the cold sink edge digging into his stomach. He couldn't take his eyes off the mirror, his attention divided between the sight of Zero possessing him and the hunter's beautiful, burning eyes which were black with desire, but still rimmed with a wide band of the amethyst color he loved so well. Zero was definitely vamping out a bit... but he was not out of control. The fact that Zero was beginning to manage the merging of those two states was an incredible turn-on to the pureblood.

Kaname realized suddenly that Zero was watching his face in the mirror, drinking up the glazed, contorted expressions of pleasure washing over him every time the hunter thrust into him. The pureblood's cheeks colored attractively. This whole situation was rather unexpected and it was _damn _erotic. Kaname felt himself responding strongly, the pulse in his groin quickening in excitement as Zero rode him.

After a few mind blowing minutes of silent panting and the sensual sound of slapping flesh, Zero stopped and pulled Kaname's hips back, away from the sink edge. Kaname bit his lip in pleasure as Zero's warm hand closed around his aching length. It was standing quite readily at attention and there was obviously nothing lacking about it now.

Zero grinned, glad to have captured Kaname's interest and that the pureblood was enjoying himself. Zero might be in the mood to play and pay Kaname back for what he'd done to him earlier, but he never wanted to do anything that Kaname didn't enjoy too.

The hunter ran his lips down Kaname's spine. "I guess you aren't too bored now, huh? Am I doing better?" He pulled Kaname upright again and the pureblood turned towards him, their lips meeting hungrily and urgently. They kissed hard, Kaname trembling a little against Zero as he pressed into him, arousal humping and rubbing against the hunter's thigh. The pureblood's body seemed to be re-awakening to the delight of Zero's touch with a vengeance and he felt consumed with an almost giddy hunger.

Zero shuddered too, sucked deeply into Kaname's needy desperation as it heightened his own desire. After a moment they separated and Zero was breathing hard. He grinned a bit shakily as he wiped a trail of saliva from the corner of Kaname's mouth. "Well, much as I like this location too, I think we should keep looking. Maybe we'll find one you like even more..."

Zero took hold of the leash dangling from Kaname's bound wrists and led him out of the bathroom into the hall. He paused for a moment, looking around. He didn't have any firm ideas about where he wanted to go next and was playing the situation as it came. The window at the end of the hall gave him inspiration and he led Kaname in that direction.

The window was tall and Victorian, running almost from the floor to the ceiling. Naturally, it was shuttered during the day, but at night it could be opened onto a lovely view of the stars and the grounds. Zero yanked the cord to un-shutter the window, flooding the hall with waning starlight that was just starting to give way to the first hints of grey dawn. It was still dark enough outside that the dimly lighted interior of the house would clearly and visibly display their naked forms to anyone who might be out there. Of course, at this hour, and on Kaname's private estate, there was not likely to _be _anyone out there, but it was the principle of the thing.

Kaname's eyes widened as he seemed to guess what Zero intended. He balked slightly, but Zero was having none of that. "Up against the window, come on..." he half ordered, half coaxed, his voice managing to be commanding and yet surprisingly gentle at the same time. It turned out to be somewhat awkward to manage what Zero wanted to do with Kaname's hands bound in front of him, so he untied and then re-secured them behind the pureblood's back instead.

Kaname found himself pushed flush against the window, face first, his hard, pulsing body pressed against the cool glass and every inch of him on display. Behind him, Zero pressed against his back, guiding Kaname's legs apart until he could get enough room to enter him again. The hunter pressed his hands to the window on either side of Kaname's body, his chin resting on the pureblood's shoulder as he thrust deeply and deliberately into the trapped body.

He couldn't really go very fast or very hard in this position, with Kaname standing like this, but what the location restricted in movement, it made up for in visibility. Kaname shifted and squirmed uneasily, his heart thudding, skin burning in embarrassment that fed directly into his skyrocketing desire as Zero fucked him against the window pane. There wasn't anyone out there to see, but there was that tantalizing little thrill that there _could _be.

It was a lovely view spread out before them, with rolling green lawns and woody hills under the fading stars, but Kaname was a little too focused on the warm body pressed against his back to notice much else at the moment.

Zero liked the embarrassing potential of the location, since he felt it was fitting given the mortification Kaname had put him through earlier in the men's room. But he was swiftly feeling the need to go somewhere where he could take his partner a little more thoroughly, so eventually he pulled Kaname away from the window. Again, he grinningly checked his lover's state of arousal, standing behind the pureblood and sliding Kaname through his fist several times. "How's this?" He murmured devilishly. "Am I doing better? Feels like I must be..."

Kaname resisted the urge to swear at him or to groan as that hot, strong hand pumped him, warming skin that had been chilled by the window. "All right, I suppose..." he managed to gasp out around the tremors of sensation.

Zero gave his ass a swift little whack for that, which made Kaname inhale and whimper very prettily. "All right, come on. If you're still complaining, then we've got to find some place extra special."

It was a little more awkward leading Kaname with the leash when his hands were bound behind him, but they made it down the stairs all right. Zero cast around thoughtfully for where to go next. He almost went to the kitchen but opted on the dining room instead.

There was a long, formal table in there that the two of them used occasionally, although it was more usual for them to eat in the kitchen or in front of the television when it was just the two of them. Actually, that was Zero's fault. Kaname had always taken his meals at a proper table with all the proper place settings until he'd moved in with the hunter. Since he wanted to eat with Zero, he ate where Zero ate, and the ex-human had taught him the joys of being causal.

Right now, however, Zero had a much different use in mind for the long, empty dining room table. It wasn't completely empty, there were two candles burning on it that one of the serving staff had probably lit earlier in the evening. Zero moved the candlesticks down to the far end and threw back the tablecloth, leaving one end of the dark, highly polished wood table exposed.

Kaname watched these preparations with some anticipatory trepidation, wondering what came next and able to make some pretty good guesses as the hunter pulled him over. Still, he managed to be caught off guard a little and yelped softly as Zero hoisted him onto the table and deposited him on his back, his hips just hanging off the edge at a very handy height. The ex-human grabbed his knees and held them apart, grinning devilishly as he stepped between the pale legs, enjoying the way the candlelight played upon Kaname's creamy skin. "Maybe here, huh? Let's try it..."

Without preamble, Zero pushed into his lover's body, thrusting rapid and hard enough to scoot Kaname farther back onto the table. The pureblood keened in intense stimulation. The shiny surface of the table was cool and hard against his back and his bound arms, trapped under his body. Bound as he was, with Zero holding his legs apart in the air, Kaname could do nothing but toss his head back and forth against the table, groaning in embarrassed ecstasy as Zero screwed the daylights out of him.

The pureblood was almost painfully hard now. The sheer novelty of all this combined with Zero's lovely, playful domination and his own "helplessness" was an incredible turn on and Kaname was almost hyperventilating from the desire throbbing through him. He was so close he could _taste _it and his body shuddered in a coiling spasm.

Zero stopped moving suddenly, pausing with Kaname's legs held firmly and his body deeply impaled. "Don't," he warned, giving his lover a warning look. He gave a slow, deliberate thrust and Kaname all but writhed on the polished tabletop. Zero glanced down at Kaname's ridged and freely weeping arousal and felt his pulse jump a little. Nice to know he was finally getting the reaction he wanted. However...

"Don't come," he ordered, using the no-nonsense tone of command that he'd learned Kaname responded to very well - in bed, anyway. Pulling out of his lover, Zero stepped back and bent down, still holding onto Kaname's knees while he pressed a light, teasing kiss on the exposed underside of Kaname's throbbing flesh. "Don't come until I say you can, or I'll be angry," he murmured, intentionally letting the words buzz against the sensitive skin.

Kaname squirmed, whimpering desperately at the almost overwhelming stimulation as Zero's hot breath brushed over him. The hunter sensually flicked him with his tongue, licking a slow, deliberate line of blissful torture from base to tip and back again. "God, Zero!" he groaned, trembling. "Don't do that if you don't want me to... aaah!" Kaname almost screamed as Zero took him into his mouth, bobbing his head once before letting him slide free again.

Kaname's gut churned and ached, fire burning through every nerve as if he were a piece of paper set alight at the edges and quickly being consumed inwards. He could have come then, his body _wanted _to... but he struggled hard for control. Zero had forbade it, and although he knew quite well that Zero wouldn't have _seriously _been upset if he failed, still, another part of him was desperate not to disobey or let his lover down.

Zero felt the muscles in Kaname's thighs straining. The pureblood's head tossed back against the table, exposing his neck. Perspiration stood out on his pale skin as he struggled with the pleasure trying to claim him. Kaname was incredible. Zero didn't know anyone else who had so much control over their own body, and the pureblood always tried so hard to please him. Zero figured he was the luckiest man in the world, to be so much in love with such a wonderful partner.

The ex-human knew he was being wicked, but he couldn't help blowing softly on the flesh he had just wet. Kaname mewled like a trapped cat and squirmed, shuddering hard. Zero shuddered too, fire eating at his insides. _Damn, this was much too fun. _Kaname was far too beautiful when he was aroused and totally lost pleasure like this. Zero wanted it to go on and on. He licked Kaname again and the pureblood nearly choked.

"Nope, I'm going to do what I want to do. I'm punishing you, remember? You just have to be good and do as you're told..." Zero instructed with a grin, the warmth in his voice not letting the teasing seem too harsh.

The pureblood somehow managed to obey, forcing himself to hold back from the edge as Zero licked and teased him before finally straightening and slamming back into the pureblood's sensitive passage. Zero grinned as Kaname's cries of desperate, repressed pleasure rattled the dining room as he took him very hard. It was going to be difficult to eat in here again for a while without remembering Kaname's beautiful, spread body writhing on the table, screaming himself hoarse from pleasure as his lover impaled him. Oh yeah, it was definitely going to make formal dinners more... _interesting_.

After a while, Zero knew he himself was reaching the edges of his much expanded endurance and he stopped, stepping away from the table to cool down and leaving Kaname lying sprawled on the edge, trembling, flushed, drenched in perspiration and fairly glowing with arousal and need.

Kaname shifted, groaning almost incoherently as he found himself alone. His eyes opened and he saw Zero standing back and looking at him like he was some exotic sacrifice laid out on an alter. The pureblood stifled another groan, biting his lower lip against the thrill of excitement that that sent through his already far too stimulated body. He shifted uncertainly, dying with the need to feel Zero's touch on his over-fevered skin and not sure what to do with his legs now that Zero wasn't holding them. He felt foolish holding them up in the air like this but he couldn't put them down or try to stand without falling very ungracefully off the table.

"Keep them up," Zero murmured, his eyes locking with his lover's. Hesitantly, Kaname obeyed, earning him a heated smile from the hunter. "Yes, like that. But spread them a little more. No... wider..." Zero grinned as he saw Kaname's face flush even more deeply as the pureblood haltingly obeyed. "Yes, perfect." He caressed the brunette thoroughly with his eyes. He couldn't pretend it wasn't fun to make Kaname flush for a change. His lover did so enjoy doing that to him, and at the moment, he couldn't pretend he didn't understand why.

Zero's breath came hard and fast, he had almost pushed too far and he needed to let himself cool down for a few moments. He rather guessed Kaname did too if he was going to continue being able to obey Zero's command not to find release until permission was given.

Kaname couldn't take his eyes off Zero. His face continued to flush ever deepening shades of scarlet as he held the position Zero wanted on the edge of the table, his hips just perched on the hard lip, his bent legs held up and spread as if waiting to be claimed. His passage throbbed from the recent, ardent use that had been made of it. His body was on fire and he ached for Zero. He rather wished his lover would come back and continue, it was torture being left alone like this, and yet, with Zero's eyes raking over him like this, it was an exquisite torture indeed.

It seemed an eternity before Zero finally returned to him. When he did, however, the hunter hooked his arms around Kaname's shoulders, embracing him and carefully pulling him up to sit, and then helping him off the table. He kissed Kaname's trembling lips warmly for a moment before grabbing hold of the pureblood's painfully throbbing arousal and giving a little tug, smugly content to use it as a handle with which to lead his lover around.

"Zero!" Kaname protested, with far too much squeak in his tone for his dignity, leading to more intense flushing. His cheeks felt like they were on fire as he quickly shuffled after Zero, but it could hardly be denied that the hunter's hand felt far too good there.

Kaname didn't even realize that he was so focused on Zero and the enjoyment of this game they were playing that since it started he hadn't once thought of the past or had to struggle with the threat of flashbacks that he had feared earlier. Zero had distracted and engaged him fully and it was just the two of them now, nothing else. Whether it was a serendipitous accident, or some level of intuitive instinct, Zero was giving Kaname complete respite from his inner torment, something the pureblood had badly been needing.

Zero led Kaname into the living room and looked around for another likely spot. "Okay... where shall we try next, any preferences?" he inquired conversationally, intentionally pumping Kaname's hardness a little when they stopped moving. The pureblood's legs felt weak and his knees actually faltered, making him need to lean back a little against the couch behind him.

Zero smiled brilliantly. "Good idea." Turning Kaname around, he bent the pureblood over the well padded arm of the leather couch, nudging his legs apart before summarily claiming him again.

"Aah!" Kaname's voice was slightly muffled by the couch cushion as his aching body was filled once more, both exacerbating and soothing the burning need inside him at the same time.

Zero hoisted his lover's hips a little higher and then grabbed his bound hands by the wrists, using them as leverage to pull the pureblood back even harder into each powerful thrust of his hips. The hunter sobbed slightly in ecstasy. He knew this was going to be it for him, he couldn't play this out much longer. "Yeah... this is good..." he panted a bit hoarsely, plunging even more ruthlessly into his lover as he felt his control slowly starting to slip. He held onto it for as long as possible, screwing Kaname into the couch for a good long while before it finally became entirely too much.

Kaname was nearly delirious with repressed pleasure. Zero's almost violent thrusting was rubbing his hard, needy flesh firmly back and forth against the padded leather arm of the couch and it felt unbearably good. "Zero!" he sobbed desperately, needing to find release so badly he was almost in pain. "Zero... please!"

Zero lifted Kaname's hips enough so that he could slide a hand under him, gripping his weeping arousal tightly as he leaned over his back. "Come for me, Kaname," he whispered in the pureblood's ear, his own voice trembling with need and with how close he was. "Come for me now."

Kaname released his control with relief, screaming softly as the repressed pleasure inside him broke free, surging with inhuman intensity through every nerve and fiber of his being. His senses seemed to desert him, whiting out with the sheer force of his climax. Kaname whimpered in ecstasy as he came in Zero's hand, body almost convulsing as he pushed back and forth against his lover's hardness in rapid, disjointed moves, completely undone from pleasure. _"ZERO!" _

Zero trembled, enthralled by Kaname's beautiful, desperate little motions and sounds as the pureblood's body exploded in bliss, warmth covering his hand as the lithe body writhed over the arm of the couch. It was far too lovely and stimulating and Zero found himself not far behind. With a hoarse groan, he found his second release inside his lover's trembling body, stomach muscles tightening so hard he doubled over the pureblood's back, gasping lips pressed warmly to Kaname's spine. _"Kaname... Kaname...!" _

Neither of them was sure how much time passed after that as they lay exhausted, sated and deeply fulfilled over the arm of the couch. Kaname's back rose and fell rapidly against Zero's chest, which was doing the same. Finally Kaname winced slightly and shifted, a bit dizzy from the way the inverted angle was making blood rush into his head and the way the arm of the couch restricted his breathing. His hands were still bound behind him, trapped between his and Zero's bodies, and he had no way of supporting himself.

Zero quickly regained enough brain function enough to realize that this probably wasn't the most comfortable position in the world for the pureblood and straightened, removing his weight from his lover's back. He pulled out of Kaname's well used body a little too quickly and the brunette gasped sharply before he could stop himself.

Zero quickly slowed his movements, caressing Kaname's back tenderly. "Sorry," he murmured, unbinding his lover's wrists and helping Kaname up. The pureblood still felt weak from bliss and his feet had fallen asleep. He couldn't find his balance right away and Zero didn't make him try. The ex-human was still pretty shaky and exhausted himself, but he caught Kaname up in his arms and guided him to the couch, setting him down carefully before sitting down beside him. They were both still naked, but their bodies were radiating heat from their recent exertions and the soft leather of the cushions quickly warmed under them.

"We're going to have to clean the couch..." Zero mumbled, his brain not entirely functional again yet.

Kaname chuckled breathlessly, voice almost slurring. "Mm. Worry about that later, won't you?"

Zero gathered Kaname into a side-ways embrace as they sat curled up next to one another on the large, comfortably padded couch. The pureblood curled his knees up so he was half sitting, half reclining on his side, pressed against Zero's body. He let his dark head fall to rest comfortably on the hunter's chest.

Kaname was still trembling softly and Zero's arm trailed gently down his smooth side. When his trembling did not abate after a few moments, the hunter looked around for something to cover him with. Not seeing anything within reach, and not feeling up to going to look for something suitable, the hunter instead caused light blanket of interlocking vines to spread across Kaname's curled up shape. The vines were warm with Zero's own body heat and they flowered silently, as they usually did when he was happy like this.

Kaname found himself clothed in a blanket of roses and lifted his head, smiling softly up at Zero. "And you say I'm the romantic one..." he murmured, tracing the nearest delicate bud gently with his fingertips.

Zero smiled guiltily and leaned down to softly kiss the upturned lips. "I can't help it if out of all the possible abilities there must be, I ended up with _flowers_..." he retorted with a twinkle in his happily exhausted eyes. He slid his arm around Kaname's back, stroking the pureblood's naked shoulder slowly with his fingertips as they rested together

Kaname returned his kiss and then dipped his head to brush another one across the rose in his hand. "I love your flowers," he admitted with a contented sigh. "They're so beautiful, just like you."

Zero ducked his head a little self consciously. He still wasn't used to the way Kaname liked to call him _beautiful. _"You okay?" he asked, his hand slipping hesitantly down the pureblood's back to his hip. Zero's vines shifted automatically out of his way when he moved. "I didn't hurt you?" His warm hand slid across the firm, toned curve of the pureblood's rear, caressing it before his fingers dipped between the pale legs. He could feel the wet stickiness of his own passion there, making Kaname's thighs slick.

Kaname shuddered at the soft, intimate exploration of his body. The tendrils of pleasures still sparking contentedly at his nerve endings spiked a little as he felt Zero's fingers sliding through the creamy wetness that was proof of how thoroughly his lover had filled him. He inhaled shakily, feeling dizzy from satisfaction as Zero's fingers traced wet, delicate patterns against his inner thigh. He shook his head against the hunter's chest. "No, not at all," he assured contentedly. "It was great. I had no idea you could be so... _inventive_." The teasing twinkle in his voice was clear.

Zero gave a fond scowl, his face heating slightly. His hand slipped up a little higher and gave his lover's naked butt a reproving smack. "I learn from the best, I guess." Actually, Zero _could_ be fairly inventive in the heat of the moment, it was just that after that moment had cooled he felt kind of embarrassed about it. _Damn _it had been good though.

Kaname chuckled, squirming pleasurably at the curiously warm and enticing sting that Zero's hand had left behind. He tipped his head up again, grinning devilishly at Zero. "I'm complimented that you recognize I'm the best..." he teased with intentional arrogance, earning him another wry little spank from his lover.

Kaname groaned softly, his eyes momentarily going black as they held Zero's. He hadn't meant to react so visibly, but he rocked into Zero's body a little, sliding against his lover as he responded to the strangely delightful stimulation.

Zero's blinked curiously, feeling his body tingle slightly at Kaname's reaction. "You... like that?"His amethyst eyes showed surprise for a moment.

Kaname had the grace to blush slightly and duck his head, tucking it between Zero's shoulder and chin again. He gave a little nod. "Maybe," he murmured. There was no _maybe_ about it, but he didn't want to weird Zero out if the hunter disapproved.

Zero stroked Kaname's hip and backside before giving it another, slightly hesitant smack with his palm. He felt the color rising in his cheeks, it seemed kind of a weird thing to do, but Kaname curled harder against him with a little moan that was definitely not pain.

The hunter hesitated and Kaname nuzzled him encouragingly, humming softly in his throat in wordless entreaty. Slowly, Zero gave him a couple more spanks, not very hard, but harder than before as he confirmed that Kaname definitely liked it. The pureblood whimpered and groaned against his neck, squirming delightedly against Zero's body. The hunter's hand left warm little handprints of sweetly stinging sensation and his breath caught. He couldn't explain why the sensation was so erotic, but it was, especially in his currently over stimulated and exhausted state. _Yes... he did like it. And someday, when he thought Zero was ready, he'd show him how good it felt. _

Zero stopped after a dozen or so and rubbed the warmed rear. He could feel the heat of Kaname's flush in both the cheek against his neck and the one under his hand. Arousal tingled through him at the sensation. "It doesn't hurt?" he murmured in questioning concern and Kaname quickly shook his head.

"No... yes... well, in a good way," the pureblood murmured with a tinge of embarrassment, not sure how to answer. He actually would have liked more, but he could tell Zero wasn't entirely sure about this - _yet_. Give him time.

"Hm," Zero made a soft, pondering, interested little sound that gave Kaname reason to hope that that time wouldn't be too far off. The pureblood's face was still nestled against his lover's neck and the sound of the hunter's pulse was enticing. Kaname licked the pale throat slowly, kissing the graceful, corded muscle where it met his lover's collarbone.

Zero sighed audibly and tipped his head back against the couch, lids drooping in contentment as Kaname slowly worked his neck. He felt the brush of his lover's fangs and then felt the pureblood still. Zero opened his eyes and looked down to find Kaname looking questioningly up at him, mouth poised sensually over his bite area. Zero smiled softly, his eyes giving the permission Kaname was looking for before the pureblood's long, graceful fangs sunk into his neck.

Kaname sucked his blood with sweet reverence, like it was the most delicious thing on the planet - which in point of fact, it was, to Kaname. The pureblood straightened a little, without removing his fangs, and slid a knee over Zero's thighs, shifting to straddle his lover's lap. Zero groaned softly as Kaname's warm body pressed to his, the pureblood humping slowly and sensually against him while he drank. His vines retracted automatically to allow the movement, mostly disappearing except for a few loving tendrils that remained curled around Kaname's body, snaking along his back and down one leg.

Kaname felt dizzy and excited, both of which increased when he felt the telltale pressure against his stomach which said that Zero was getting hard again. Zero's blood filled his senses and connected him to the hunter's pleasure, and to the deep feelings of love and adoration that his partner felt towards him. It was liquid bliss. The pureblood drank very, very slowly so he could prolong the contact.

Zero's head swam, more from pleasure than blood loss as Kaname drew from him with sensual skill. The sensation of the pureblood straddling his lap was too much to resist and after a few minutes, his hands slid to Kaname's hips. He lifted him, guiding the pureblood forward onto his length. Kaname obliged willingly, lifting himself up on his knees and allowing Zero to pull him down again, penetrating his still softly shuddering body.

The pureblood moaned against the ex-human's neck as his tender body was filled again. He was very well slicked by now and it was an easy motion, like two puzzle pieces fitting together. It felt very right and Kaname's giddy euphoria heightened as he continued to drink. He pushed his hips down in contented, languid motions as Zero rocked up into him with equal contented slowness. The hunter's warm mouth caressed Kaname's neck and the pureblood fairly hummed with gratification when he felt Zero's sharp fangs slip gently into his neck. Joined together in every way possible, the amazing sensation of mutual blood sharing flooded them and entwined them together in an incredibly deep kind of intimacy that could only exist for bonded vampires who were as deeply in love as they. There was no sense of beginning or end between them. In those moments it was as if they had one soul and heart. Their bodies moved together in perfect unison, hips slowly thrusting and pressing together in a rhythm that deeply satisfied them both, fangs, tongues and mouths caressing and sucking as their blood co-mingled.

Zero's hands ran worshipfully up and down Kaname's sides, guiding his hips up and down as he claimed the pureblood tenderly. Kaname pressed against Zero's body, feeling the perfectly synced beating of their hearts as their chests rose and fell together. It was like living inside a beautiful dream and Kaname surrendered himself happily to it as pleasure hummed between them.

Zero felt like he was floating, entwined in Kaname's blood, the pureblood's hot body gripping and stroking him intimately. It was beautiful, and when he eventually found completion inside his lover once more, the fire pulsing through him was somehow almost as relaxing as it was exhilarating. He held Kaname close, hands splayed across his lower back, their fangs still buried in one another's necks.

Zero felt like he could stay like this forever. For the first time in a while, Kaname was completely open to him, and the hunter hadn't realized until now how much he had missed that.

_Kaname was alone in a large bed. The sheets were rumpled and bloody. The pureblood was curled on his side, tangled up in the covers, but you could just see blood streaking his back. It looked like he had been either clawed or beaten. Whether or not the wounds were still there under the ugly stripes of blood was impossible to tell, and improbable given his healing rate, but the amount of crimson suggested that the tears had been deep. _

_The pureblood's face was turned away and Zero couldn't see it, but the body seemed somehow too small. The huddled frame was not quite developed enough to fit with the picture of Kaname that Zero knew. It was a younger Kaname, perhaps a little younger even than the first memories that Zero had of him from his visits to the Chairman's house. _

_The young Kaname was sobbing silently, his whole body shaking with his agony. He was so curled into himself, it looked as if he would like to hug his knees to his chest, but he couldn't because his arms were trapped over his head... and it was then that Zero saw the silver chains on the young pureblood's bloodied wrists. _

Zero's eyes opened with a soft, sobbing inhale and he realized that tears were burning down his cheeks. He didn't really understand what he'd just seen, and like one waking from a dream, the details fogged away into vague uncertainty the moment he came back to himself. But the little he did remember and the sensation it left behind broke his heart. He knew whatever it was had come to him from Kaname's blood, some glimpse of a past trauma that the pureblood had suffered. Zero had learned that the things one glimpsed in blood visions weren't always to be taken literally, because sometime they represented the emotions of the person you were drinking from more than any kind of concrete reality. But whether the exact scene had actually ever happened, or whether it just represented feelings of extreme helplessness and pain, it was clear that Kaname had suffered deeply at some time in the past. Unfortunately, that wasn't exactly surprising. Zero already realized that his lover had not grown up the pampered and spoiled little pureblood prince that he had always assumed when they were younger.

Kaname had frozen and disengaged from Zero's neck. He must have sensed Zero's sudden distress and guessed at the cause. There was fear in the dark eyes when Zero's gaze found them.

Kaname trembled. He was too worked up, too open and too vulnerable. He couldn't have mentally pushed Zero away from him now if his life depended on it. He needed this lovely intimacy and closeness too much. He realized now that he had been almost starving since he had started trying to keep Zero at arm's length to protect his shameful secrets. But he could see in Zero's eyes that the hunter had seen something in his blood. _What _he might have seen Kaname had no way of knowing and fear made him feel ill and weak. The pureblood's eyes filled with tears and one escaped down his cheek.

Zero didn't even understand what was going on, but that look in Kaname's eyes made him feel as if someone had just hacked his heart out of his chest with a dull blade. He never, _ever _wanted Kaname to look at him with fear like that. He wasn't sure what had brought this on. He could guess that it was because of how vulnerable Kaname was feeling over this whole business deal and maybe because their blood sharing had reminded his lover of the dreadful wager hanging over him or something. Perhaps that was why Kaname looked at him with fear, looked at him like he expected Zero to blow up at him or shove him away.

Zero didn't know, but right now, it didn't matter. All that mattered was wiping that hurt, fearful look from his lover's beautiful face. All that mattered was doing whatever he could to try and sooth the hurting heart he'd seen a moment ago. All that mattered was making sure Kaname knew how deeply, completely, and utterly he was loved.

Zero kissed Kaname's eyes, gently tasting the salt of his tears. "I love you," he murmured a bit hoarsely. "I love you so much, you know that, right?"

Kaname wrapped his arms around Zero's neck and clung to him, feeling relief sooth the daggers cutting up his stomach. Zero's beautiful words warm him, coaxing him back to the lovely place he'd been a few moments before. Zero must not have seen what he feared. Whatever Zero had sensed, the hunter's response was both kind and beautiful. "I love you too, Zero. I don't deserve you, but you are my heart. You're the only one who has ever touched my soul. Please... please always believe that..." his voice hitched softly.

Zero didn't fully understand the soft desperation in his lover's plea, but he wished that he could make up for any and all pain the pureblood had suffered in his life. "Kaname, you deserve the whole world," he murmured tenderly, earnestly. Cradling the back of Kaname's head in his hand, he shifted them both. He laid Kaname down on the warmed couch, gently sliding out of his body but still lying comfortingly atop him, caressing him. "You deserve to be happy, to be loved... you are an amazing, wonderful person, and I love you so much it hurts," he whispered, kissing Kaname's warm lips, his throat, his chest...

Kaname inhaled softly, like a drowning man drawing air. It was pathetic perhaps, how much he needed to hear that from someone whose opinion meant everything to him. He had so much reason to think otherwise... but Zero's words and his love wrapped him in a warm, contented cocoon that pushed the darkness away, at least for now.

Zero kissed and caressed his way down Kaname's body. Kaname was still aroused from before, and Zero realized that although he'd already sated his need, his lover had yet to find his second release. He shifted position, kneeling between Kaname's knees for easier access as he dipped his silver head between his lover's legs. He wanted Kaname to forget any and all cares and just remember the pleasure of their intimacy.

Kaname's back arched a little and his fingers quickly sought Zero's silver tresses as the hunter teased and licked him up one side and down the other, fondling and caressing before finally taking his lover fully in his mouth. Zero pleasured him slowly and thoroughly, swallowing the pureblood deeply, humming against him, teasing him with lips, tongue and teeth until he quite successfully achieved his goal and Kaname could think of nothing but the hunter and the incredible sensations being coaxed from his body.

Zero was well sated by this point, and he was perfectly content to take his time, lavishing Kaname's arousal with his full and undivided attention, wanting to give the pureblood every bit as much pleasure as he had been given tonight. The hunter took it slow, maintaining a constant level of sustainable pleasure rather than pushing for an ending. He varied his attention and his pace, keeping Kaname aroused and in a sea of pleasure for quite a long time without letting the fire either become too hot or too cool, mindful always of his partner's comfort and enjoyment.

Kaname felt incredibly pampered and achingly blissful as Zero tended to him with erotic thoroughness. Nothing was required of him save that he lie back and enjoy the amazing symphony of pleasure that his lover played upon his body. The pureblood's muscles rippled, his body undulating softly in time to the inaudible music that Zero seemed to play, his breath panting quietly between pleasure flushed lips, his fingers tangled adoringly in Zero's short, messy hair as the hunter's head bobbed mesmerizingly between his legs.

He warned Zero softly when the pleasure finally built so high he knew release was imminent, but Zero did not pull away. Instead he increased his motions, taking his lover deep and swallowing everything he had to offer when the pureblood finally exploded in a spasm of ecstasy.

Kaname sank back on the couch, smiling, boneless, and utterly content as the sparkling aftershocks of climax tingled through him. His lids drooped wearily. He was beautifully exhausted and sleepy. He didn't care if he fell asleep right here.

Zero was tired too, the long day was catching up with him, but Kaname was so damn radiant in the afterglow of pleasure that he could hardly take his eyes off him. Carefully, he staggered to his feet and lifted Kaname in his arms. Kaname could have walked, but Zero wanted to carry him. He wanted to hold him close a little longer, to treat him special... because he was special.

Once again Zero carried Kaname up the stairs to bed. But he took Kaname to his bedroom this time. Neither of them felt like showering right now, so the practical little part of Zero's mind told him to use the bed that they'd already messed up and would need washing anyway. Besides, the romantic part of his mind wanted to lay Kaname down on _his _bed and curl up with him, and that was exactly what he did.

Once they were curled up together under the sheets, Zero realized he'd forgotten to turn the lights off. _Drat. _He stated to stir, then looked at Kaname who was cuddled close, eyes sleepy but open.

"Hey... don't suppose...?" the hunter inquired, casting a glance up towards the overhead light.

Kaname smiled and an invisible force flicked the light switch off, plunging the room into comfortable darkness.

Zero draped his arm over Kaname's waist, burrowing his head into his pillow. "Mm, knew you were useful for something..." he murmured with a crooked smile, opening one eye.

Kaname chuckled softly. "Good night, Zero."

Zero kissed him on the nose. "Good night, Kaname."


	12. The Unexpected

**Chapter Twelve: "The Unexpected"**

"Are you all right?" Kaname asked as he sat across from Zero in the back of the limo. The pureblood tilted his head questioningly as he sipped his steaming latte. "I appreciate your coming with me again today, but if you aren't feeling well..."

Zero stopped rubbing his stomach and leaned his head against the back of the seat. "I'm fine," he assured. "Just a little tired I guess." The hunter yawned to demonstrate. He wasn't much of a morning person... well, okay, evening person... _whatever_.

He was wearing a cerulean, button down shirt with a grey sports jacket and matching slacks. The first couple buttons on his shirt were left undone so that the collar hung open. The necklace Kaname had given him several years ago, which he almost always wore, was tucked underneath and the leather cord just showed through the open neckline. His shirt was un-tucked in a way that was comfortable and yet managed to look casually fashionable rather than sloppy. He looked quite good, but he _felt _rumpled compared to the crisp, collected figure sitting across from him.

Kaname was dressed in a high collared white dress shirt with a pleated front that disappeared under an ebony vest and a long matching suit coat. Matching slacks fell in perfect lines to his polished leather shoes. The pureblood's silver tie matched the decorative handkerchief in his breast pocket and was tacked down by a complicated tie pin that reminded Zero a little of the ones they had worn back in school. Correction - the ones they were _supposed _to wear back in school. Zero had conveniently "lost"at least half a dozen of them over years and managed to almost never wear one.

The pureblood's hair was glossy and obediently in place, his long, gracefully manicured fingers wrapped around the steaming cup of coffee he was drinking. Zero thought it was somewhat disgusting for anyone to look that sharp or seem so darn alert and functional at this hour. He yawned again and ran a hand through his hair, accidentally tousling it more than it already was.

"Mm, and whose fault is that?" Kaname asked innocently, giving Zero a decidedly meaningful and slightly smoky look over the rim of his coffee cup as he took another drink. The pureblood was obviously thinking about _what _exactly had cut into their sleeping time.

Zero felt his face heat a little and scowled, wondering how it was that Kaname could always make _him_ flush, even when the pureblood had been the one bent over the couch arm last night. There was something unfair about that.

"Yours," Zero retorted, closing his eyes and feeling the sway of the car's forward motion rocking him lightly back and forth. He actually _didn't_ feel so great. His stomach wasn't happy and he felt queasy. "I can't help it that you're so much fun to fuck."

Zero opened his eyes again in time to see Kaname almost, but not quite, choke on his coffee. It wasn't necessarily _what _Zero had said that caught him off guard as much as the fact that _Zero _had said it. The hunter was by no means a prude, but he didn't usually talk that way.

Kaname raised his eyebrows with a wry little smile and Zero was mollified to see at least a faint, fleeting hint of rosy color painted across the regal cheekbones.

The car hit a bump and Zero's hand unintentionally went back to his stomach with a small wince as he focused on keeping the toast he'd had this morning where it belonged.

Kaname's quiet gaze became concerned again. "Seriously, Zero, is something wrong?" It wasn't like the hunter to get carsick.

Zero sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew what was wrong and that it wasn't anything to be concerned over. "I said I'm fine, okay? Don't worry about it."

His nausea was simply the result of the pills he'd taken that morning. The little white pills suppressed the effect of vampire pheromones on a hunter's senses. Most hunters kept some on hand and many used them as a regular preventative measure. As with any medication, they were not without side-effects and some hunters could not take them. For most the side effects were mild, but of course, for Zero, the issue became more complicated. As was the case with many hunter inventions, the pills did not react well with Zero's vampire biology. The reaction wasn't too serious, but the pills made him quite nauseous and Zero usually didn't take them. Since his lover _was _a vampire, it was normally kind of pointless anyway.

This morning, however, it had seemed prudent to him to down a couple in an attempt to avoid any repeats of what had happened yesterday. He would be accompanying Kaname to work again and while the ex-human may love the effect of Kaname's pheromones in the bedroom, he was hoping to avoid experiencing them again in the board room. He didn't really feel like explaining that, however. Nor did he want to make Kaname feel at all guilty.

"You want some coffee?" Kaname offered, proffering the unused side of his mug to Zero, thinking it might help settle his stomach.

Zero glanced at the creamy, overly sweet smelling caramel macchi-something-crap that Kaname favored and made a face. "Do you _want _me to barf in the car? No thanks."

Kaname chuckled. "Sorry, I forgot that you only drink battery acid..." he retorted dryly. "Would you like me to make you some of your kind?" He gestured towards the small in-car bar area on the other side of the limo, which included an espresso machine. One of the few things in the kitchen that Kaname could make well, or at all, was tea and coffee. Over time, he had even learned to make them to Zero's tastes as well as his own.

Zero shook his head. "No, thanks. I'm fine, Kaname," he repeated, his cranky tone a warning that he wanted to be left alone. It was a warning Kaname seldom heeded.

"What about some tea then? It would help settle your stomach... " the pureblood pressed. He suspected that Zero had been twisting charms again or something else of that nature. It was common hunter practice to create and "store" certain kinds of charms within themselves. That way, more complicated charms could be done ahead of time and then invoked quickly when needed. Zero and Aido had long ago found a way for the ex-human to be able to do the same without having them fail or turn against Zero because of his vampire nature. But not every charm was easy on the young vampire/hunter and sometimes the process of storing them could be excruciating for him. In the beginning, Kaname had spent a fair amount of time kneeling beside Zero and rubbing his back, doing what he could to take the pain away as the young hunter retched into the toilet because of the pain and nausea. Kaname had originally tried to talk him out of continuing the practice, until he had got his head bitten off enough times. Then the pureblood learned to simply keep his mouth shut and do what he could to ease his lover's suffering.

Zero seemed to handle it better now. Whether he had better perfected the process, become more tolerant to the initial pain, or was simply more skilled at hiding it from Kaname, the pureblood wasn't sure. But Kaname always knew when Zero had been working with some of the more troublesome elements of hunter paraphernalia because his lover would be pale, ill and grouchy afterwards. He also knew that Zero was touchy about the subject and didn't like to talk about it, so he diplomatically did not mention his suspicions now.

"I _said, _I'm fine," Zero was getting _that _look again and Kaname raised his free had in placation before patting the seat next to him.

"Okay, well why don't you at least sit over here? Riding backwards like you are can't be helping."

"I'm _fine_-" Zero didn't like being told what to do, especially when he wasn't feeling great and he was starting to get a familiar stubborn cast to his expression. Kaname interrupted quickly, knowing he had only a few moments left before the ex-human dug in completely and became as immovable as the Great Wall of China.

"I get it, you're fine, okay. But Zero, you are sitting directly across from me and you look like you're going to throw up. Either come sit next to me or move to the other side of the car," he said dryly, knowing that sarcastic pragmatism would prod more of a response from his lover than tender concern at the moment.

Giving the brunette a stormy look, Zero hesitated defiantly for a moment before he finally seemed to decide that Kaname wasn't going to give him any peace until he conceded _something. _He switched seats, settling beside Kaname with slightly exaggerated deliberateness. "There. Happy?"

Kaname nodded placidly and drank the last of his coffee. "Yes, actually." He placed the empty cup in a holder and the newly freed arm slid around Zero's shoulders.

Zero snorted. "You just wanted me to sit next to you."

"Yes, because goodness knows I have to resort to trickery for that," the pureblood's honeyed voice seemed supremely unperturbed. Kaname's lean, talented fingers found the back of Zero's neck and rubbed lightly along his spine in small, soothing motions.

Zero snorted again and folded his arms... but did not shrug Kaname's arm off. It was very annoying, but he had to grudgingly admit that facing the direction they were traveling instead of riding backwards _was _actually helping with his nausea a little, as was Kaname's light neck rub. _Great. _

Kaname gave it a few minutes, pulling the PDA off his belt with his other hand and scrolling through a list of recent emails while he continued to rub Zero's neck with the other. Finally he glanced back towards the hunter with an irritatingly knowing smile. "So? Feeling any better?"

Zero looked at him with a stubborn glare, but there was more of a smile in his eyes this time. "I refuse to answer on the grounds that it will unduly inflate your already unimaginably bloated ego."

Kaname's short laugh was musical. "I'll take that as a yes." The phone in his hand chirruped and quickly drew the pureblood's attention. A worried frown darkened his eyes as he saw the number on the display. He answered the call quickly.

Zero could only hear Kaname's side of the conversation, but partway through, the pureblood's expression changed radically. "They _what?_" The brunette actually looked shocked. "How did you...?" There was silence for a minute or two and finally Kaname just nodded. "All right, yes, that is great news. Be careful of treachery, we don't know what their angle is in this, but make sure and nail it down air tight this time, all right? Good. I will talk to you later."

Kaname hung up and stared at the phone for a moment with an unreadable expression that was somewhere between hopeful shock and skeptical concern.

Zero suddenly felt his stomach knot up for a completely different reason than before. "Kaname? What happened? Anything wrong?"

"No..." Kaname answered slowly, finally returning the phone to his belt. "Unless we're being had, something is actually _right _for once. That was my lawyer in charge of the Thetados case. They're due in court in a half hour, but they just received an anonymous package containing Thetados' copy of the original documentation on our deal with them, which Thetados has been claiming doesn't exist. He's had it triple checked, and it is legitimate." Kaname's words were slow and it was obvious he was still a little stunned. "It makes the matter very straightforward. With proof like that, there's no way the judge will think that the opposition even has a case. Thetados will have to honor their agreement."

Zero felt a wave of relief and elation wash over him and resisted the juvenile urge to do a fist pump. _Good boy, Khang. Score one for blood sucker survival instinct and ass-covering. _"Kaname, that's great!" He couldn't help the huge, satisfied grin that tugged at his lips.

"Yes, it is. Honestly, it's so good I'm almost worried about it," Kaname admitted. He was wary of being manipulated, but at the same time there was no way he _couldn't _take the minor miracle and run with it. "Things that seem to be too good to be true usually are, but I can't see the catch. The package had to come from someone inside Thetados, yet what anyone there would have had to gain by..." the pureblood paused, taking in Zero's expression and the not so subtle air of jubilation radiating from him. Something Zero said last night came back to him and he was suddenly suspicious.

"Zero... do you know something about this?" he asked slowly, unable to comprehend how that could even be possible, but also unable to deny the fact that Zero looked guilty as sin in a _cat that ate the canary_ kind of way.

Zero hadn't been sure for a minute whether he should actually tell Kaname about his involvement or not, but there was really no way he could keep it to himself. "I might," he said with a smug grin.

Kaname's eyebrows shot up. "You?"

Zero gave him a withering look. "Okay, you don't have to look _that _surprised. I have my ways too you know."

"Obviously," Kaname conceded with a slightly astounded grin. Leaning forward impetuously, he kissed Zero with grateful shock, not really sure how else to respond. "But how...?"

"Oh, you know, twisted a few arms, sold my soul to the devil... who doesn't know what a crappy deal he got, by the way," Zero teased. He was smiling again, he couldn't help it. Kaname's surprise and happiness was delightful to witness.

For a moment alarm and concern darted through Kaname's expression. He reached out and took Zero's face urgently between his hands, his eyes searching. "Zero, you're okay? You didn't..."

Zero rolled his eyes. "Joking. I was joking," he quickly cut short Kaname's concern and explained what had actually happened the previous night.

"So that's what happened," he finally wound up the recap. "You remember that present I mentioned?" Zero's eyes sparkled softly. "Well, looks like it got delivered." It wasn't every day that he was actually able to give Kaname a gift of this size or importance. Kaname was usually the one giving things to him and it felt really, really good to be able to see the surprised happiness and gratitude in the dark, expressive eyes.

Kaname smiled deeply as he captured Zero's face in his hands once more. "Zero, you are completely amazing, you know that?" he pulled the hunter close and kissed him thoroughly. Zero leaned in to the kiss easily, happily able to forget all about his nausea for a time while he and Kaname got lost in exploring one another's mouths. Kaname tasted like caramel and coffee. While Zero didn't care for that flavor in a drink, it tasted exquisite on his lover.

They finally came up for air when the limo pulled to a halt. Still cradling Zero's face, Kaname held his eyes with soft, deep intensity. "Thank you," the pureblood whispered. "I love the gift."

Kaname knew that although Zero was downplaying it, he hadn't entirely been joking about the selling his soul quip. He knew that the lines of integrity in his profession were important to Zero. The hunter had crossed into a grey area for him and he truly did appreciate not only the result, but also how much it meant Zero loved him.

Zero smiled back, feeling happily shy now. "It... it helps, right?"

Kaname nodded. "Definitely. Zero, I didn't want to say so before, but without the Thetados shares I might as well have given up now. But with them, we are most certainly still in the game," he replied honestly. Zero had no idea just how big a gift he had possibly given him, even just in buying some more precious time. The very real relief in Kaname's eyes was clear and, to Zero, quite beautiful. The hunter felt warm all the way through. It had been worth it. Seeing this light dancing in Kaname's eyes was worth any cost. He leaned in and kissed Kaname again.

They were still kissing when the chauffeur opened the door for them. Kaname's drivers were handpicked and trustworthy, so the man merely discreetly closed the door again and waited until a tug on the handle indicated that the occupants were ready to emerge.

* * *

The first part of the day went fairly well, sliding by in a blur of meetings and phone calls. It was almost lunch time and Zero found his mind wandering far away from the conference room as he sat at the table and watched Kaname discuss something with some other well dressed and important looking business people. He wasn't feeling so nauseous anymore; thank goodness, although he wasn't feeling particularly hungry either. Still, he _was _looking forward to stretching his legs a little. All these meetings were reminding him unfavorably of being in school again. Except that he was slightly less likely to get detention for sleeping in class.

Zero had lost the thread of conversation, but he was watching Kaname anyway. These were his own people the pureblood was talking with so he was a little more casual than when dealing with outsiders. Which meant the pureblood was leaning back in his chair instead of sitting ramrod straight. Kaname was also playing with something in his hand, turning it over absently and rubbing at it with his fingers like a worry stone.

Zero recognized it as the same clear cube he'd seen Kaname with frequently over the past few days. He wouldn't have really even noticed, except that he'd never known Kaname to be a fidgety person. The pureblood did not usually need to have his hands occupied with something, so it drew Zero's attention, even though he didn't give it much thought.

Zero was just wondering how rude Kaname would think it was if he got up and excused himself, since he really didn't have anything to contribute to this meeting anyway, when the door of the conference room opened and a pretty young secretary poked her head into the room.

Everyone fell silent as Kaname turned a questioning, expectant gaze on her. It was assumed she would not have interrupted unless it was important.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, Kaname-sama, but Diachi Sato-sama is holding for you on your private line. He said it's quite important that he speaks to you right away."

"Very well, tell him I will be with him momentarily." Kaname was not expecting a call from the other, older pureblood, but he nodded and rose. Diachi was a business and political ally, if he said it was important, Kaname would extend him the courtesy of taking his word for it. Besides, they were almost finished here anyway. He wrapped the meeting up politely and glanced towards Zero as he rose.

Zero got to his feet and stretched. "I'm going down to the atrium for a little while, all right?" he said, taking the chance to escape for a bit.

Kaname nodded, glancing at his watch as he gathered up his papers and folio. "All right, I'll meet you there after the call and we can get lunch?"

"Sure," Zero agreed easily, giving Kaname a light grin. "Try not to get stuck on another three hour call, huh?"

Kaname grinned ruefully and gave a little eye roll. "I'll try, I promise." The pureblood was about to take his leave when one of the men he'd just been meeting with respectfully asked him to wait long enough to sign off on some document or another. Kaname consented, pausing and having to set all his things back down on the table in order to whip off his elegant signature across the bottom of several forms. The other man at the meeting took the opportunity to ask Kaname a quick string of questions that they hadn't had time for before the early end to the meeting. Kaname answered a little distractedly as he shuffled through the papers he was signing and made sure they were all in order.

The secretary, who had disappeared before, returned again and Kaname glanced her direction as he finished up with the papers and quickly gathered his own things once more. "Yes, Mia, I'm coming, tell him to wait," he said patiently, knowing how distracted and flustered the vampire secretaries could get when they had a pureblood on hold. Kaname followed her out, leaving Zero and the other two business men alone in the conference room.

The two suits exchanged light conversation while they gathered up their clutter of papers, mostly indifferent to Zero's presence in the room. When one of them picked up the sheaf of papers that Kaname had signed, something small fell off the table, landing on the thick carpet almost soundlessly. One of the men noticed and started to stoop to see what it was, but Zero had already recognized it and he got there first, reaching down and plucking up Kaname's small, clear cube from the floor. Kaname must have set it down to sign the papers and forgotten to pick it back up again with his other things. Considering how transparent it was when viewed from certain angles, it would have been easy to miss.

"That's Kaname-sama's," one of the men pointed out once they recognized the object, looking at Zero almost accusingly.

Zero glared indifferently in his direction. He was well aware of that, which was why he had taken it first. "I know. I'll return it to him when we meet for lunch," he said casually, ignoring the other vampire's barbed look while at the same time reminding them that _he_ was the one with whom Kaname intended to take lunch.

Zero slipped the cube into his pocket, turned without another word and let himself out of the room, heading for the elevators.

* * *

There was a large, glass-topped atrium in the middle of the large office building. A well tended indoor garden filled the airy space, crisscrossed by winding stone pathways which often diverted into "clearings" which contained benches or tables and chairs where workers could meet or take their lunches.

It was almost lunch time now, so a number of the tables near the front were already occupied. Zero stayed clear of the chatting workers, wandering the twisting pathways back deeper into the garden where the sound of voices faded and the musical patter of a large fountain drown them out completely.

It was a lovely garden, with small lights twinkling in the trees that mirrored the vast, starry darkness of the sky overhead. Moonlight streamed down quietly through the domed skylight. Few humans worked in the building this late into the night, so the dim light levels were set for vampire eyes.

The path he was following let out into the open area around the fountain and Zero was pleased to find himself alone there. The cascading water inside was illuminated from underneath by lights built into the bowl of the fountain, making it look like the water itself was glowing in the dim light as it poured from the multi-fluted surface of the fountain's central molding.

Zero walked around the circular fountain, wondering how long Kaname was going to be and if they would get lunch at the canteen here or go out somewhere else. It actually might be pleasant to get it here and bring it back to the fountain. He was finally starting to feel a little hungry and hoped Kaname wasn't going to take _too _long. Finally he stopped pacing and settled on the wide, bench-like stone lip that ran around the base of the fountain. He shrugged out of his jacket and laid it on the lip next to him, careful to not get it too near the water. His hands slid idly into his pants pockets and his fingers brushed against the small, heavy cube he'd picked up earlier. He drew it out, holding it up for closer inspection.

The object was a little smaller than an ice cube and curiously heavy in his palm, making him suspect it was lead crystal or something like that. It was square in shape but it's edges were soft and polished. It's shiny surface was incredibly transparent and on a whim Zero brought it up to his eye in order to look through it and see just how clear it was. He angled it so he would be looking through it towards one of the lights in the base of the fountain. However, rather than seeing a slightly warbled image of the light as he had expected, Zero found himself staring into the unblinking gaze of a clear, violet eye. The apparition was startlingly vivid and clear, as if the cube was looking back at him and he jerked in surprise. The smooth crystal slipped from his fingers and fell into the fountain with a soft _ploop_.

Swearing silently, Zero quickly plunged his hand in into the churning flow of the fountain. The crystal was almost invisible underwater and he couldn't see it at all. Fortunately, the cube was heavy enough to not be easily moved by the mild current and sank almost straight down from where it had fallen. Zero found it by touch and scooped it up quickly with a sensation of relief. He really didn't want to lose something that wasn't his. He shook the excess water from his now dripping shirt sleeve and was glad he'd taken his coat off. He dried the cube on the thigh of his trousers and held it up again, cautiously this time, as if it was a living thing that might bite. Gazing into it he saw the eye once more, but this time he realized that it's color matched his own, and when he blinked, it blinked.

Zero smirked sardonically at himself and relaxed. It was only an uncannily clear and perfect reflection of his own eye. He shifted the cube curiously, moving it around. He realized that although it appeared clear from a distance, some trick of its design made it act like a kind of mirror if you looked directly into it. Even more fascinating, he found that as long as he was focusing his gaze on the approximate center of the cube, the reflection of his eye seemed to follow him no matter where he moved the cube, but the instant his gaze refocused on the outside of the crystal or on something else near it, the illusion vanished and the cube appeared transparent once more.

It was somewhat mesmerizing and staring into it made Zero feel a little unnerved for some reason so he let his hand fall back into his lap once more, turning the cube over in his fingers and tracing its edges with his finger tips. He wondered briefly about Kaname's recent obsession with the trinket, but he had to admit, the smooth surface and the unusual weight of it did make it rather pleasant and soothing to the touch.

The sound of a familiar voice, or rather, two familiar voices, both raised in equally familiar combative tones drew Zero's attention away from his inspection of the cube. He looked up and saw two vampires approaching along the garden path, one tall and red-headed, the other shorter and blonde. They seemed not to be aware of his presence, although given the heat of the argument they were having, they might simply have been ignoring him.

Akatsuki Kain was striding down the garden path with his hands in his pockets, his rakishly half-buttoned shirt still managing to make him look like a model, even though the tense slouch to his shoulders gave the impression that he might be trying to escape his cousin, who was following him at a quick trot. Hanabusa Aido's handsome face was flushed with irritation under his blonde locks and he was railing on Kain about something that Zero didn't entirely catch.

"I have to have them, Akatsuki, that's almost a month's worth of reports... I can't re-write them now!" Aido was saying as they approached.

"I don't know what you want me to do about it, Hanabusa," Kain pulled his hands from his pockets and spread them in irritated helplessness as they stopped by the fountain, not far from where Zero was sitting. "Oh, hi, Zero," Kain greeted the hunter with a little nod. The tall vampire looked rather like he was desperately trying to change the subject or find some way to distract his cousin and Zero took pity on him.

"Hi," he returned to Kain before shifting his gaze over to Aido. "Hey, I didn't know you were back. When did you get in? You just visiting, or back to stay?" he inquired by way of diversion. Actually, he was rather curious about the answers as well. Not that he'd _ever _admit it, but it was kind of nice to see the blonde again. Aido had been abroad in Europe for quite some time now. Kaname had lent him to Diachi Sato, or rather, to an advanced branch of the Sato clan's overseas pharmaceutical research and development division, where the blonde prodigy had been working for most of the past year. Kaname and Diachi had developed close business and social ties over the past few years and sometimes did little favors for one another. It was good for Kaname to have allies amongst the other pureblood clans. Understanding that, Aido had been pretty good about the situation, even if in the beginning he'd been in a lather over being lent out and having to temporarily serve a different pureblood.

"Hey Zero," Aido greeted. His tone was a little distracted, but there was an honest flash of pleasure at seeing the hunter in the noble's blue eyes for a moment. "To stay, for a while anyway. I just flew in a couple hours ago. I came here to report to Kaname, but _SOMEONE _is making that very _DIFFICULT._" Aido turned his glare back on his cousin again. "You have _got _to remember, Akatsuki. I mean it, this isn't funny!"

Zero gave Kain an apologetic look. _I tried... _

The hunter started when Aido unexpectedly reached over and plucked the crystal he was holding out of his loose grip. "Hey...!" Zero protested, rising to his feet, but Aido was ignoring him again.

"Here!" the blonde shoved the small object at his cousin. "Here, use Zero's focusing cube on yourself and see if it can jog your pathetic memory!" he demanded.

Kain held up his hands again, refusing to accept the cube. "Hanabusa, that won't help! I didn't _make _myself forget where your stupid reports are, I just don't know where they would have gotten filed if they're not with the others!" The elder vampire's voice had risen slightly, the irritation in his normally mellow tone saying that he was getting well and truly frustrated with his cousin by this point.

Zero interjected himself between them, quickly snatching Kaname's cube back out of Aido's grip. His brows were furrowed, his attention caught by something Aido had said. "What did you call this?"

Aido blinked at the hunter. The completely unexpected, and judging from his expression completely retarded question had caught him by surprise and de-railed his rant for a moment. "Focusing cube?" he responded slowly, as if Zero might have suffered some kind of brain damage while he was away.

"Okay, and what's _that_?" Zero scowled at the noble and Aido scowled back, both of them looking like they were about an inch away from making faces at one another, which Kain couldn't help thinking meant that all was right with the world.

"You really don't know? A focusing cube is... well, it's what it sounds like. It's a prism of sorts, it's used to channel vampire abilities in certain ways, usually by turning it back upon themselves. If a vampire wants to use their mental powers on _themselves_, it's different than using those powers on someone else. You need some kind of focusing object to facilitate the attempt. They come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, they don't have to be cubes, although those are the most common." Aido had obviously lapsed momentarily into lecture mode.

"Take memory, for example," the noble shot his cousin a murderous look before glancing back to Zero. "A vampire can tamper with people's memories, as I'm sure you know. Hunters can do it too though charms, yadda, yadda, yadda." Aido waved dismissively. "The flipside of making someone forget something, is of course that you can also try to stimulate and bring back forgotten memories. All well and good, when you're working with someone else. However, if you wanted to do it to _yourself," _and here there was another meaningful glare in Kain's direction, "You'd need a focusing object," Aido concluded.

Kain looked unimpressed by Aido's meaningful digs. "For the last time, I did not _make_ myself forget so I can't _make_ myself remember. Why on earth would I go to the effort of forgetting where your precious reports were intentionally? Are you sure you ever even sent them to begin with?"

The two cousins continued to argue, but Zero was no longer paying attention. He was trying to absorb what he'd just learned, staring down into the small, heavy cube in his palm. Since hunters were concerned with what vampires could do to _others _and not to what they might want to do to _themselves_, he supposed it wasn't too much of a surprise that he'd never heard about this before. Aido made these sound pretty common, like an accessory that every vampire had hanging around in his or her sock drawer or something, but he'd never seen Kaname with one until the past few days. Was it completely random, or did it mean anything? Was it just coincidence, or was Kaname trying to remember something... or forget it? Or... something else entirely? Aido had said it could focus any kind of mental power after all, what was it that Kaname was trying to do to himself?

Zero stared at the cube intently for a long moment, as if attempting to will some answers out of it, but none came. Kain and Aido's squabbling was rising in pitch and starting to get on his nerves, so he pushed the cube back into his pocket and put the troubling questions away for now.

"Okay, time out... time out!" he interrupted them again, having to say it several times, progressively louder until both nobles finally stopped and looked at him with distinctly cranky expressions. "Cut it out, you two are giving me a headache. What the heck are you arguing about anyway?"

Aido and Kain both started explaining at the same time and then glared at each other. Aido huffed, turning away from Kain with a clear _"I'm not talking to you" _expression, and addressed Zero. "As you know, I've been away for a while, keeping an eye on the Satos for Kaname-sama," the blonde prefaced the explanation primly.

Kain rolled his eyes, obviously having been put in a far more contrary mood than usual. "Oh. Yes," he mumbled dryly. "_Keeping an eye on them_, you're quite the little spy, I'm sure."

Aido bristled and Zero struggled to repress a smile. He could still clearly remember Aido's initial reaction to the assignment in question. Unlike how Zero would have reacted if Kaname had ever been brain dead enough to simply inform _him_ that he'd just been given a new job, Aido had no issue with Kaname's _right _to make those kind of decisions for him, he simply had a self-pity-fest over the thought of having to reverence someone else for a while the way he reverenced his Kaname-sama.

Of course, Kaname hadn't helped the situation. He did so like to tease Aido and it was far too great an opportunity to pass up what with the prime opportunity for innuendo regarding what all _"being loaned out"_ meant. Zero had to admit, Aido brought it on himself by over-reacting so well. The ex-human had actually felt kind of bad for him though. Aido may find it natural to have his life moved around by someone else, but it was weird to Zero and he'd tried to talk Kaname out of it until the pureblood confided in him that one of the reasons he had actually agreed was that he knew Aido was going to enjoy the work and benefit from the new experiences. It was a valuable opportunity for the brilliant young vampire to work with some other truly great minds.

Zero had also discovered that despite the teasing, Kaname had a very strict agreement with Diachi about what kinds of things Aido could and could _not _be required to do while he was under the other pureblood's authority. That included a proviso stating that the handsome blonde was never allowed to even be in the same building as Diachi's troublesome younger brother, Seiji - an addendum of which Zero heartily approved. He personally didn't think that _anyone _should ever be forced to be in a greater than a 100 mile proximity to that pureblood leach. Zero was aware that Kaname was being especially cautious because he knew Seiji did not like him and would not hesitate to show that dislike by harming or abusing one of Kaname's inner circle if given the chance. Kaname may like to tease Aido mercilessly, but he was actually quite protective of him.

Naturally, Aido would have done anything Kaname wanted, regardless of how he felt about it, but it turned out that all the pureblood had to do to improve Aido's state of mind was whisper to him that he was counting on him to be his eyes and ears while he was abroad. Suddenly the young noble was entirely enthusiastic for the "mission" and couldn't wait to start packing. Since then, the blonde seemed to consider himself quite the secret agent, much to his older cousin's amusement.

Aido glared daggers at Kain and continued speaking exclusively to Zero. "_As I was saying,_ I've been keeping an eye on them and some of their R&D work abroad. It's actually been very interesting for the most part, and I've kept full reports on everything for Kaname-sama. I didn't want them to fall into the wrong hands, so I've always brought them back and forth personally rather than trusting them to the post. But a month ago a number of us in the department were transferred out of Europe to a new location." He scowled deeply.

"Sandy little backwater hell hole is where we were transferred," he grumbled with a snort, his displeasure obvious. "Look at me," the noble demanded with disdainful dismay, indicating his overly pink face. Zero had thought he was flushed from anger, but now he realized that the delicate pink color was too even and too widespread, covering Aido's face, neck and hands.

Zero tried not to smile and failed. "Aido... is that a suntan?"

"Sun_BURN_," Aido corrected, giving Zero a narrow eyed look. "It's a sun_BURN_ that I think is just about _PERMANENT_ now. It's no wonder, either. We did field work observing and researching this bizarre, mutant plague, and I do mean _field _work. Sleeping on the ground, moving from place to place, sometimes having to run around during the _day _in that stupid good for nothing little sun baked mud hole of a place that has _got _to be the closest point to the sun on Earth..." he groused, scowling so much his fangs were showing. "Oh, and that was only _when _we could spare time to do any actual research and testing around the nearly full time occupation of trying to keep from getting _killed_ in their lovely little civil war." Aido was obviously not pleased about the past month's events and it showed, explaining a good portion of his currently lousy disposition.

"Of course I didn't know I was in for a little trip to hell until we got there, Sato-sama was _smart_ enough not to tell us where we were going. All I knew was we were going to a different country and I had to pack light, so I sent most of my things back home, including the past several months' worth of reports..."

"_And _a stack of boxes and crates that would rival a skyscraper. Do you have any idea how long it took to get everything you sent put away somewhere?" Kain interrupted long enough to point out. "For goodness sake, Hanabusa, I think you sent home half of Europe!"

"Ah! Ah, there it is. The problem is the _where _you put things!" Aido replied crankily. "I finally, _barely_ return from the backside of hell with my life and what do I find? I find that you've _lost _almost a month's worth of my reports, so I have to come to Kaname-sama _unprepared _and will have to reconstruct hours and hours of painstaking work."

"Hanabusa, I swear, I'm sorry about the missing things, but I showed you were everything was put. If they're not there, then they never made it home," Kain's tone was exasperated and earnest at the same time.

Aido looked frustrated and tired. Zero noticed a weariness in his expression that probably would have translated to bags under his eyes if his vampire body hadn't been quite so good at physical regeneration, sunburns excepted.

"Look, Kaname's not going to be upset over the reports or anything like that, I'm certain," Zero felt compelled to try and offer a little comfort. He knew how Aido was when it came to the pureblood. "He's got a lot going on right now and probably won't even have time to read them for a while." _Or ever... _but Zero wasn't about to say that, knowing how much work Aido had probably put into them. "Who knows? By the time he's ready for them, maybe you'll have found where they ended up. But it's not like it's the end of the world if you don't have them with you today."

Aido looked very mildly mollified, although he didn't appear to entirely believe Zero. He ran a hand through his tousled locks and sighed, looking even more tired than before. "I suppose so. I just can't believe I can't find them. I mean, I might as well have taken them to An'swala with me for as safe as sending them home turned out to be," he mumbled.

Zero froze, a funny, cold chill of shock sweeping over him. The surprise of the casually mentioned name sent goose-bumps racing up his arms. "Wait... what?"


	13. Aido's Story

_A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but here's an extra long chapter to make up for it! There's a lot of explanations and information packed into this chapter, I hope it doesn't come across as too boring, but it all needed to come out because things are going to start speeding up now (at least I intend them too, if they cooperate! XD) _

_Big technical disclaimers on this on this one - any and all medical and science related stuff that I use in this story is completely made-up pseudo-science. I have no expertise or any real knowledge of such things, I do try to do a little research online to make it sound good, but in the long run I just make things up to suit the story and try to anchor them in enough semblance of fact to seem plausible. So please just ignore anything that's wrong or incorrect in that regard, it's just set-dressing for the development of the story. _

_Also, I make a tiny reference to part of Aido's history which comes from the VK Novel "Ice Blue Sins" in this chapter. It fit so well with the current situation I couldn't resist bringing it in, but it's not important if you haven't read that, I explain it when it comes up, so everything you need to know is self-contained in the chapter. But if you're wondering where that bit about the blood tablet trials and the ex-human girl came from, that's where. I didn't make it up, just used it. _

_Review Responses are in my forum (there's a link on my bio) as usual!_

**Chapter Thirteen: "Aido's Story"**

"Aido, that place you were talking about with the war and the illness... that was An'swala? You just came back from _An'swala_?" Zero stared at the blonde in surprise. Maybe it was mere coincidence, but if so it was a pretty big one.

Aido looked at Zero in confusion. "Yeeeah, so?" He appeared mildly surprised that Zero had ever even heard the name before, much less that it seemed to mean something to him.

"Does Kaname know that's where you've been?" Zero asked instead of answering, suddenly trying to call to mind various bits of Aido's rambling explanation which he'd pretty much let go in one ear and out the other.

Aido appeared perplexed at the question, and perhaps mildly concerned by Zero's sudden intensity. "No... I don't think so," he answered slowly. "Unless Sato-sama told him, which he probably didn't. Purebloods like their secrets, or some do," he added quickly. "I wasn't allowed to communicate with the rest of the world while I was in An'swala, no one on the team was. It was all very hush-hush. Apparently, there's a syndeo war going on over there, as well as the human conflict. They're only minor clans, but Sato-sama didn't want to appear to be involved or act as if he was snooping around to possibly gobble up the territory while they were fighting, it would have caused him problems. That's why none of us were told where we were going and were bound to secrecy while we were there."

Aido tilted his head slightly, worry eclipsing the other emotions that had previously been in his blue eyes as the secrecy he'd taken for granted before began to sound more sinister in his own ears when placed up against Zero's reaction. "I'm _going_ to tell Kaname, of course. That's why I'm here. Sato-sama doesn't have the right to command me not to tell Kaname things and he knows that. He never said I couldn't talk about it when I returned, and even if he had, it would not matter. Zero... what's going on? Why do you ask?"

Kain shifted uneasily, suddenly hovering protectively nearer to the cousin he'd looked ready to throttle a few minutes before. He wasn't sure he liked wherever this was going and hoped Aido wasn't going to end up in trouble again.

Aido felt an icy worry gripping his gut. If he'd been tricked into doing something at cross-purposes with Kaname's interests, he would never forgive himself. Pureblood or no, he would have found a way to break with Diachi, or would have died trying, if he'd thought for a moment the other vampire might be betraying his Kaname-sama.

Zero saw that he'd just alarmed both nobles and winced inwardly. That was not his intention. He knew that Aido must have been in kind of a delicate situation over there. Nobles had to obey a pureblood's commands, at least when said pureblood was around to enforce them. He was aware that Aido had been honor bound to obey Diachi's wishes on any matter that did not put him in opposition of Kaname's interests, such was the agreement that Kaname had made with Diachi beforehand and so of course, the noble would respect that arrangement. Since Aido had been away so long, he was also obviously completely unaware of Kaname's interest in Mission Oil. Zero himself hadn't even known about it until a few days ago after all.

The hunter's brows were furrowed in thought. "Maybe nothing, it could only be coincidence," he replied quickly, not wanting to create something out of nothing. "It's just that Kaname has a rather large business deal he's working on that's centered around a company called Mission Oil, which is based in An'swala."

"That oil company mess that's tearing the country apart?" Aido blinked, obviously somewhat stunned. "Kaname-sama's involved in that?"

Zero nodded. "Yeah, he's trying to keep the company in An'swala," he wouldn't say more than that, as it was not really his place to blab too freely about Kaname's dealings, even to friends.

Aido looked very relieved. "Well, it must be a coincidence then. What we were working on in An'swala had nothing to do with the oil business or the country's messy political affairs. We were there solely to study a new virus that cropped up among many of the local populace this past winter. Actually, judging from our research, I believe that it was present in isolated pockets before then, possibly even for several years previous to the outbreak. Most An'swalans outside the major cities are nomadic and medical care is rudimentary - people get sick and die and it's just something that happens. The situation that country's in right now, whole tribes could disappear and nobody would notice. But the freakishly harsh weather of the past winter season drove many of the nomads to seek the shelter of the cities, war-torn though they may be, and in heavier population areas the virus turned into something of an epidemic that finally attracted some notice."

The way Aido carefully laid out his theory and defended his reasoning led Zero to believe that perhaps some of Aido's fellow scientists had had other ideas and this was a well-worn road for the blonde. The young noble had spent a lot of time around other geniuses who were just as opinionated and competitive as himself lately, and it showed. He over-explain himself as if he thought someone might try to pick holes in his logic. When Zero and Kain's only response were concerned, slightly blank looks, Aido seemed to realize that neither of them were about to argue with him over his conclusions and he shifted to the cliff note version of events.

"Anyway, that's what brought us there. It's a viral strain unlike anything I've seen before. Think of a cross between smallpox and HIV and you'd be kind of close. Technically wrong, but symptomatically close."

"Considering how fundamentally different the structure of those two viruses are, that's quite a combination," Kain said thoughtfully, reminding Zero that although the red-head was usually a lot more understated than his cousin and did not seem inclined to go out for science on the level that Aido relished, he had had much the same education and could hold his own in a conversation.

Aido gave his head a quick shake. "_Symptoms, _Akatsuki, I'm only talking about the symptoms. The virus causes swift, severe illness, ending in death within two to three weeks in almost 80% of observed cases - kind of like smallpox, only quicker, deadlier and without the rash. However, in terms of contagiousness and transmission it's more like HIV. It's not airborne and it can't live outside its host, it spreads by body fluid contact. Like smallpox, if someone survives the initial illness, then they're out of the woods, however, the twist is that the person is still infected and can pass it on to other people, even though they seem to have become immune to it themselves. Well... to be honest, some of that is still conjecture. There needs to be a lot more study on it before anything can be conclusively stated," he amended.

"Four of us running around and trying to conduct a study in the middle of a poverty stricken war zone, having to rely heavily on what we're told by an uneducated, frightened populace isn't really clinical research at its best. I brought samples and notes back with me though, so with Kaname-sama's permission I'll hopefully continue working on it. If you want to get into the _technical _details it's a retrovirus with two identical single-stranded RNA-"

"No, we don't want the technical details," Zero was quick to assure, cutting Aido off before things could get boring. He'd relaxed a little since finding out that Aido's trip to An'swala seemed unrelated to Mission Oil and the issues Kaname was facing. The coincidence of it still bothered him though. He had been trained to not believe in coincidences as a rule, but Zero couldn't see a connection at this point, at least, not with the information he currently possessed.

"I _am_ curious why I haven't heard of this before, though," he admitted, both because it was true and because Aido looked mildly miffed at being interrupted. "Considering the fuss they can make over new strains of flu, you think the words _new virus _and _epidemic _would be enough to throw the media into doomsday overdrive. " Zero settled down to sit on the edge of the fountain again, one knee drawn up a little and the other hanging as he sat sideways, facing Aido and Kain.

Aido seemed to think that was a pretty good idea and took a seat on the fountain lip facing him. Kain's hands found his pockets, but he remained standing. The comfort and ease the three vampires felt around one another was so different from the old days. Five or six years ago, none of them could have imagined this scene, but now it was simply natural.

"Like I said, it's a small, isolated incident right now; it hasn't made it on to anybody's radar yet. The war torn state of affairs means it's not being documented and is just falling through the cracks. A bunch of people die from illness during unusually inhospitable weather in a third world country and everyone assumes it is natural causes. There are no scary physical outward symptoms to draw attention to the malady. From observation alone, it could be any one of a hundred common illnesses, save for the shockingly high mortality rate."

"So, if nobody has noticed and nobody cares... why does Diachi care?" Zero was a little too skeptical to think that it was merely out of the goodness of his heart. With Kaname as the one possible exception to the rule, it was the hunter's opinion that pureblood vampires rarely did anything that did not benefit them or play into their long-term goals in some way.

"Diachi-sama is heavily involved in the human pharmaceutical industry; it's the backbone of most of his family's wealth, actually, from what I've heard. This outbreak in An'swala apparently came to his attention in some manner, I don't know how. He sent us there to assess the situation and take samples. At first, actually, we thought it was a badly mutated strain of tuberculosis, but it quickly became apparent that it was something completely different. After we sent back our initial reports, we got the orders to stay longer and run field tests to gather more information. We could only scratch the surface in the time we had, but even so, some of what we found was disturbing. Even more disturbing was..." Aido's gaze turned uneasy and thoughtful as he brought himself up short.

Zero and Kain were looking at him expectantly and Aido seemed suddenly torn over whether or not to continue. "Well... I'm not sure all the scientists were completely disclosing their results to the team. There were some things... No, never mind. That's a story for later." Aido stopped himself again and shook his head.

"Aido, what are you talking about?" Zero's warning radar kicked back into gear uneasily.

Aido shifted uncertainly on the edge of the fountain. "I... I'd rather wait to say until I can tell Kaname," he finally said, giving his head another, resolute little shake. "It's not... but I..." he couldn't quite seem to put his thoughts together on where to start or how to explain. "Well, I'd just rather wait."

* * *

"It's good to hear from you, Diachi. Is there something I can do for you?" Kaname asked politely as he picked up the phone in the privacy of his office, taking the waiting call off of hold. He hoped to cut straight to the point and circumvent any need for cordial small talk. Zero was waiting for him and he didn't want this to take too long.

"That's good of you, Kaname, but no, this is more about what I can do for you," Diachi also seemed in the mood to get right down to business. Kaname thought he sensed a certain tension in the other's voice, although if so, it was well hidden. "I have some information which I think will be of interest to you."

"Really?" Kaname leaned back in his chair, wary. "I'm listening."

"First, there is no graceful way to say this, so I will simply say it. I've recently found out that we might be taking actions in the same part of the world and I want to be sure that there's no misunderstandings between us. My sources tell me you are making a bid for the An'swalan oil company, Mission Oil. For completely different reasons, I have recently had an interest in An'swala myself."

"Oh?" Kaname felt a warning tingle in the back of his neck and his grip on the phone tightened, although his tone remained casual. He listened as Diachi related much the same series of events and information as Aido was elsewhere telling Zero.

"Ah, and Aido was involved in this, you say? Yes, very good, I'll get more details from him when he returns." It was pleasantly said, but Kaname didn't think it hurt to remind Diachi that he could and would be verifying everything he was being told. Actually, Kaname understood now why Diachi was really calling and what the hint of strain was in his voice. If Diachi was telling the truth, and if he had indeed only just found out about the struggle Kaname was embroiled in over Mission Oil, then this call made perfect sense. According to the terms of their agreement, Aido was due home about now, so Diachi knew he would likely be speaking with Kaname soon. Doubtless, the other pureblood wanted to quickly offer up his side of the story to avoid falling under suspicion of being connected with Kaname's adversaries. The two purebloods had been quite mutually beneficial to one another over the past few years and neither of them would immediately profit by a loss of trust.

Of course, it made good sense for Diachi to call whether or not he was telling the truth, and Kaname kept that in mind. For the moment, however, he'd act on the cautious assumption that this call could be somewhat taken at face value.

Diachi asked Kaname if he would continue lending Aido to him and Kaname said he would consider it and get back to him. He wasn't too sure he liked how interested Diachi seemed to be in getting the young scientist back and made a mental note to have a nice long talk with Aido as soon as possible.

They started to wrap up the call, but Kaname could tell Diachi still had something he wanted to tell him, and finally the other pureblood did. "Kaname... there's something else you should know," Diachi 's voice was thoughtful and grave. "This virus... it's not an exact match by any means, I would have informed you at once if it was, but the more we've studied it, the more it becomes clear that the way it manipulates DNA has several distinct similarities to the sample you gave me a few years ago. Enough similarities to make them seem almost from the same family, but if so it's a family never before encountered."

Kaname froze, feeling as if all the blood had drained from his face. Diachi meant the blood sample Kaname had given him. Yuki's blood, rife with the mysterious, manufactured illness that had killed her. An illness which had been wholly unique three or four years ago. To have some new malady now appearing that was suddenly markedly similar at the same time that information about her death was being dangled in front of him _and _in the same location that was currently the focal point of his struggle with Orion... wasn't it all just a little too much for coincidence?

"I understand, thank you," was all he said, but inside, his thoughts were whirling. The ever-present suspicion which with he viewed the world was easily engaged. Did Diachi know more than he was telling?

_"It's all terribly ironic and a little tragic, really. You truly never know who's a friend and who's an enemy anymore, you know?" _The words came back to him, something Nasser had said when he first brought up the subject of Yuki's death. Trying to track down the mysterious pathogen that killed her was what had brought Kaname to ally himself with Diachi in the first place. It would certainly qualify as both ironic and tragic if it turned out that he had trusted someone involved with her demise to help him try to hunt down the killer. However, rushing hastily to that paranoid conclusion on absolutely no evidence other than some strange circumstances and uneasy coincidences was pure folly and he did not entertain the notion for more than a few seconds, although he did not entirely dismiss it either.

For that matter, Nasser was just as likely to be responsible himself, a thought that was never far from Kaname's suspicions. You could make an equally good case for and against his possible culpability, and the same went for a number of other major players in world affairs such as the Vampire Council and the Hunter's Association. A lot of suspicion and no answers, Kaname knew better than to get too deep into the tangled web of "what ifs" without proof.

_Proof... _that brought his thoughts back around to Nasser again, and their wager. Kaname's mouth pinched grimly. He focused his mind back on Diachi, who was still speaking.

"It has a... very disturbing side-effect, at least, we think it does, although studies are still on-going," the other pureblood was saying. Diachi hesitated. "I tell you this in confidence, you understand," he said slowly. "And as I said, it's not entirely conclusive yet, but at this point, it appears that humans who have been subjected to the virus and survive, cannot be turned into vampires."

Kaname's brows furrowed. He wasn't sure he wanted to know how Diachi found that out.

"Their blood turns toxic and they die. Of course, that's not entirely unusual, the same thing happens naturally sometimes, many humans cannot survive the changing process. But due to the DNA mutation that the virus leaves behind in survivors, the chance of fatality rises to almost 100%," Diachi finished. "Naturally, you understand why I would rather not broadcast that information around just yet, until more is known."

"Naturally." Kaname digested that information, refusing to let himself dwell on the memories it wanted to bring back to him. The horrible images of Yuki, bleeding in his arms... he couldn't afford that at the moment and his mind shied quickly away. "So if this becomes widespread, I may yet have a chance of convincing you to try our blood tablets, is that what you're telling me?" He added wryly, forcing himself to be casual and feeling the need to not let Diachi see how deeply all this news was disturbing him.

Diachi chuckled. "I doubt the world is about to run out of humans, but I'll let you know if I ever get that desperate." Diachi respected Kaname's views on co-existence and passively lent his name to the cause as well, at least in theory, but he drew the line at blood substitutes. He was very old school on that subject.

A few more pleasantries were exchanged. Kaname thanked him for the information and gave Diachi the subtle indications he was looking for to assure him that at least for now, the younger pureblood was willing to accept what he was told and that all was still well between them.

They both knew the game the other was playing, but it was an accepted one. They were like dancers at a formal ball and they did one another the courtesy of making all the right, expected steps. They were allies and had a fairly high regard for one another on a personal level, but unrelated purebloods were rarely close friends. There were too few of them and they were all too wary of treachery.

Kaname's stomach felt tense and his mind was still whirling silently as he hung up the phone. He sat for a minute in silence, trying to bring some order to his thoughts and make sense of the scattered, disparate pieces of this puzzle that was facing him. He was good at putting things together, but just when he thought he had a handle on this situation, some new thing cropped up and forced him to reconsider everything yet again. It was like a massively jumbled jigsaw puzzle with most of the parts missing. You might have a blue tile, but didn't know if you were looking at a section of the sky, the ocean, a flower or maybe someone's shirt, and there was no guarantee that the pieces even all went to the same puzzle.

After a few silent moments of deep thought, Kaname finally glanced at his watch and rose to his feet. He shouldn't keep Zero waiting.

* * *

"Come on, Hanabusa, you know you're just making us more curious," Kain prodded, when Aido refused to answer.

Aido crossed his arms. "_You _may not have clearance to hear about it, so there." His words lacked their usual playful barb, however. Something in his expression looked tired.

"Why don't you quit being so mysterious?" Zero rolled his eyes. He felt that Aido was probably taking this whole "secret mission" thing a little too far and he was just a little concerned about him too. "You're not James Freaking Bond."

"Why don't you quit being a block head?" Aido retorted with a snort. "Oooh, because you were born that way, right."

"Are you auditioning for role of target next time I need some practice? Because I accept..."

The banter was friendly, no matter how it sounded. Kain knew that but decided to interject anyway. "_So, _Aido, you were telling us why Diachi-sama was interested in this virus to start with, weren't you?"

Aido huffed and settled down again. "Yes, right. Well, I suppose if this is going to end up the next great human pandemic like HIV turned out to be, he wants to get a jump on trying to find treatments. That way, if and when it does spread or garner national media attention, his company will be ready to step in and make a fortune off of being the only people with product to sell while the other drug companies all scramble to catch up."

Zero raised his eyebrows, his mouth pressing into a disapproving line. "That's... compassionate. My heart just bleeds for their show of concern over the suffering and death of their _test subjects_." He couldn't help feeling a little upset at the thought of anyone profiting off of other people's misery and loss, even though he knew it was a reality of life. He knew that vampires, with their naturally infallible immune systems, had little emotional connection to the toll that disease took on the human world, and in this case he had a sneaking suspicion that there were probably many human owned drug companies that would have acted much the same. "I wonder how much they even think about the people who are affected by all this, or if it's all just numbers on a chart to them."

"Well," Aido shrugged and looked away, suddenly seeming intensely fascinated by the fountain. "Sometimes there isn't a lot else you can do."

Zero frowned, caught off guard by his companion's sudden shift in mood. He hadn't intended for Aido to take that remark personally and he was a little surprised that he had. He was even more surprised to see Aido retreat into uncharacteristic silence instead of simply turning snarky. After all, he and Aido insulted one another all the time, even if that _wasn't _what he'd intended to do now. He had no way of knowing what Aido had seen in An'swala, or that the young noble had a sad history with failed drug testing and the cost it exacted.

Kain stepped forward, shifting to Aido's side and laying a hand on his cousin's shoulder for a moment. Kain _was _aware of Aido's history. "It may be a cold kind of logic, but those humans in An'swala and any others who becomes ill will eventually be better off if there is treatment as opposed to there being none. A scientist can't afford to get too close to the subjects of their study." He said it quietly, and Zero wasn't sure if Kain was defending Aido or trying to comfort him. There seemed a layer of subtext to the redhead's words that the hunter didn't understand.

Aido appeared to understand, but unfortunately it seemed to have the opposite reaction from that which was desired. "Yeah. Sure," he said quietly, still staring at the fountain. He shrugged off Kain's hand. "Objectivity's so important, isn't it?" his tone wasn't bitter, just empty. Aido's biggest flaw as a scientist was his lack of objectivity. Dr. Embry, his supervisor in An'swala, had told him so on more than one occasion and Aido himself knew it was true. He'd known it ever since he got too close to a test subject during the experimental blood tablet trials some years ago back at Cross Academy. He'd been part of the team trying to develop a new form of the tablets which would halt the transformation of ex-humans, or at least retard their fall to Level E's. It had not been a success and in the end he'd had to take the life of his test subject himself. That _test subject_ had been a sweet, young, ex-human girl who happened to be in love with him. Aido had done what he had to, and he'd do it again, but something like that left a mark on you. Or at least, it did on Aido. Maybe there was something wrong with him.

Aido had put all that behind him in the past, but the situations he'd encountered in An'swala had re-opened some of those old hurts again and piled on new ones. Inwardly, Aido berated himself for being so silly and weak. Dr. Embry's reprimands may have stung and irritated him, but the elder vampire was right; he was too emotionally inclined for his own good.

Something like self-reproach flittered behind the clear blue eyes. "We did the only thing sensible given the situation," he said logically, as much to himself as to Zero. "It... it's really bad over there. There's not much you can do that makes a difference, even if you _want _to," he murmured, his fingers playing absently in the falling spray of the fountain. "At least gathering the data makes help one step closer." _Sheesh, what was wrong with him? _Maybe he should have caught a little sleep before he came over here. He was acting all sappy and it embarrassed him. Really, none of this should concern him past what he could see in the microscope. If he'd been presented all this information and samples in the clean, orderly setting of the research lab and conducted a purely clinical study of the virus, he probably wouldn't have thought twice about it outside that context. But that wasn't how it had happened. He'd been there in the middle of the people who were sick and dying from the illness, when they weren't being killed or dying from other causes. It was much harder to hide behind purely analytical science after that.

Zero was concerned for his friend and frustrated that Aido seemed to have taken what he said way too much to heart. Aido acted carefree and careless, but he was sensitive under the surface, Zero knew that. He reached over and gave the other vampire's arm a light squeeze.

"I wasn't talking about _you_," he clarified. "I meant Diachi's company and drug companies in general. I'm sure what you and the others did will be a big step towards helping those people," he said quietly. Actually, the fact that Aido was upset over the implication that he didn't care about the people he was studying was a bit of a surprise to Zero. Maybe he had been a little fooled by Aido's urbane carelessness after all, but this startling glimpse into the other vampire made him feel suddenly very protective of the blonde. Aido was usually so extroverted and garrulous, it was disturbing when something caused him to unexpectedly curl in on himself like this. Zero couldn't help thinking that it felt like there was something beyond the obvious wrong with Aido... something that was unsettling him on a deep level and contributing to his odd behavior.

"Mm," Aido nodded, murmuring a noncommittal response while still looking at the fountain. He appreciated Zero's words, but he needed a moment. What Zero had said before hadn't really hurt his feelings as much as it had stirred up the confused, half buried ache already present inside him, which was apparently much closer to the surface than he realized. The feeling wasn't new; it had been building up over the past few weeks. He was used to it, and wasn't sure why it chose now to rear up and slap him, except that maybe it was finally sinking in that he was actually home and the ordeal was over.

Aido was tired. It wasn't just the lack of sleep and jet lag. His skin itched and stung softly from the still healing sunburn and he had a headache. That must be the reason he was feeling so miserable right now. Yes. That had to be it. It couldn't be the hopeless eyes staring back at him from his memories. The eyes of human children in An'swala whose lives, already so short compared to his, were doomed to be even more ephemerally fleeting than usual. There was something so... _wrong _about that. Aido hated dealing with the human world sometimes, he really did. Give him vampires any day, humans were too damn fragile. There was nothing he could do, it was stupid to feel bad about it. He was just... tired. That was all. Sure.

"Hey," Kain cuffed Aido upside the back of the head when the fountain started to ice over. "Don't wreck the fountain." He hugged his cousin's shoulders from behind, resting his chin fondly atop Aido's head. His eyes were soft despite the admonishment and he held Aido tightly.

"Huh? Oh!" Aido quickly stopped accidentally freezing the water and let it flow normally again. Zero noted that the younger vampire was slow to shrug off his cousin's friendly, teasing embrace this time. For a moment, it rather looked like Aido was grateful for it, like part of him probably felt safe or at least comforted by the nearness of someone who had always been there for him. Those two were really more like brothers than cousins, Zero had always thought that. He fought back a soft, old ache in his own heart that was out of place at the moment. But he couldn't really help it, _brothers _would always be a tender spot for him.

After a moment Aido finally did push Kain off. "Akatsuki..." he protested, combing his hair with his fingers as if worried his cousin had disarranged it. Kain reached out and intentionally ruffled Aido's wavy locks, earning him a yelp and an elbow in the ribs.

"Hey, Zero, can I borrow your gun a minute? I need to shoot something..." Aido teased grumpily, turning a wry smile on Zero to try to let him know everything was all right.

Zero thought he could still see an echo of shadows behind the noble's eyes, but he accepted Aido's obvious wish to not dwell on it and merely shook his head, folding his arms across his chest. "Forget it, you're not touching my gun."

"You realize how incredibly suggestive that sounds, don't you?" an amused voice made them all look up quickly. Kaname had just entered the clearing around the fountain and he raised a graceful eyebrow in Zero's direction.

Zero, cursing whatever genetic predilection it was that made him blush so damn easy, gave his lover a half-hearted scowl as he felt the familiar warmth threaten to make an appearance and quickly squelched it. "Everything's suggestive to you, you have a dirty mind." He had been too occupied with Aido and Kain to sense Kaname's approach, but the hunter was used to that and it no longer rattled him when it happened.

"Ah! Um, Kaname-sama, that wasn't what I meant..." Aido popped to his feet and bowed, quickly struggling to explain. Zero was mildly comforted to see that Aido blushed deeper than he did, even if it was hard to tell with the sunburn.

"Relax, Aido." Kaname shook his head with a small smile. "I know it wasn't." Kain bowed to him too and the pureblood acknowledged their greetings. He'd been only mildly surprised to sense their presences when he came looking for Zero. He'd known Aido's arrival home must be eminent or Diachi probably wouldn't have been in such a rush to be candid with him before he started finding things out for himself. And of course, Kaname had also known that Aido would come to him as soon as possible. A flicker of concern registered in his mind, if not in his face, as he noticed the distinct hint of strain in Aido's features, as well as the sunburn. The latter didn't worry him as much as the former.

Kaname moved alongside where Zero was sitting and bent down, giving him a "hello" kiss on the cheek. The pureblood felt the need to be close to his lover after what he'd just found out, although his demeanor was carefully normal. "I didn't keep you waiting too long this time, did I?"

Kain smiled while Aido blushed even more furiously and looked away. Zero stiffened just slightly, but he didn't pull away, turning his head just enough to lightly brush Kaname's cheek with the side of his mouth in return.

Kaname was respectful of his partner's comfort level in front of other people and the mutual contact was affectionate but brief, not lingering long enough to make anyone uncomfortable.

"Nope," Zero replied, his smile a little soft despite himself. "But you did forget your focusing cube in the conference room," he added, pulling the small crystal out of his pocket and holding it out to Kaname. The hunter's words were casual, but he chose them deliberately and watched for the pureblood's reaction.

_There..._ Kaname faltered ever so slightly upon seeing the small object in his lover's fingers and hearing it named on his lips. "Oh," he took it from Zero, closing it in his palm before sliding it into his jacket pocket. "That was careless of me. Thank you, Zero."

Kaname was frankly a little startled to find out that Zero knew what the cube was. The curious glance he'd seen the ex-human dart in its direction once or twice had made him think otherwise. Kaname had no reason to mind Zero having or handling the small object, and yet for some reason he did mind it. It was only because of what the cube represented to him, but he felt an irrational twinge of fear that Zero was somehow unwittingly touching something filthy, which might hurt the hunter in some way.

Kaname was good at covering those feelings, however and Zero wasn't going to pry at a moment like this. Whatever was going through their respective minds, neither was about to voice it in front of other people, no matter how dear of friends they might be.

Zero simply filed the look he'd seen briefly in Kaname's eyes away for later pondering and got to his feet. "I'm getting really hungry. Akatsuki and Hanabusa can join us for lunch, right?"

Kaname nodded easily. As much as he would have enjoyed being with Zero alone, this way he would be able to keep his promise to his lover _and_ find out everything Aido knew at the same time. "Of course. Why don't we take it in the sky room? I'll have menus sent up."

Zero agreed. The sky room would afford them the privacy they didn't really have here in the garden, and it was a lovely enough view to make up for not eating by the fountain. He knew Aido wanted to talk to Kaname, and he was now getting the same feeling in reverse, so privacy would probably be needed. He remembered that Kaname had been on a call with Diachi before coming down here and wondered if Aido's news wouldn't be so new to him.

"That sound good to you two?" Zero inquired of the two nobles, even though he knew it was unnecessary. Still, he stubbornly refused to act as if everyone falling in line with whatever Kaname wanted to do was a foregone conclusion. That was just unnatural to his way of thinking. Zero had always been the only one left standing when everyone else bowed and even though he loved the pureblood now, that continued to remain the case. These days though, Kaname's eyes would meet his adoringly when that happened, stealing the brief moment when everyone else's gaze was turned down and it was just the two of them, even in the midst of a crowd.

As expected, Aido and Kain assented without hesitation and the four of them made their way towards the elevators.

* * *

The sky room was well named. It was on the top floor of the building. One-way glass formed the wall overlooking the garden atrium below and the ceiling was likewise transparent, revealing the starry heavens above. A room like this would never be used by vampires during the day, but at night, it was lovely. Usually, it was used for entertaining VIP guests or hosting important business luncheons. The room had several long tables, but it was to a smaller, round one that the four friends gravitated.

Food was ordered and brought up to them in short order. Despite his lingering bit of queasiness, Zero was quite hungry by now and tucked into his lunch as soon as it arrived. Aido was the only one to show even more enthusiasm, appreciatively falling on the food as if he'd not seen anything like it in weeks - which in point of fact, he hadn't.

"Aido... did you come here straight from the airport?" Kaname inquired with mild amusement as he watched the younger vampire devouring his food. Aido looked up and nodded, swallowing quickly before speaking.

"Yes, Kaname-sama. Well... we stopped at home for a few minutes to get my reports, but otherwise I came straight here," he clarified.

Kaname just nodded, having guessed as much from Aido's manner.

As was their habit, the pureblood and the two nobles tipped a couple of blood tablets into their water glasses, the liquid quickly turning crimson. Zero alone drank his water clear.

Aido did not have any tablets on him and Kain lent him a couple. Aido had never been very hot on the blood tablets for their own merits. They didn't taste too good and in some ways were not a complete substitute for the blood his body craved. Even in school, when he was part of the team working on their continuing evolution, he'd had a hard time staying "on the wagon" so to speak. It was like being on a diet and never entirely feeling full. But even so, at this moment, his senses reacted strongly to the scent that the usually bland tablets gave off, a different kind of hunger rising to the fore. He'd never thought he would _miss _these chalky pills... but he had. Oh how he had.

While he watched the tablets dissolving into ruddy swirls as they sank to the bottom of the clear glass, another memory wafted through his mind like the lazily curling tendrils of color.

_Water. Dark, muddy water, tepid and not refreshing at all in the sweltering heat as he stood pressed against the slimy wall of the ancient cistern, trying to stay in the shadows. The water came up almost to his chin. The grim, irritated faces of his two companions were also visible just above the surface. Embry and Huang were somewhere else, only god knew were at this point. He and his fellow scientists Kish and Granger spent almost the whole day crouching miserably in the murky water bottom of that well. It was easily one of the most wretchedly uncomfortable moments of his life. _

_Some dissident group had decided to take up residence next door to their temporary laboratory and when the soldiers came for them it was bedlam, forcing the vampires to leave the area and take cover. Not that the humans were much of a concern for them, but Diachi had given them strict orders not to be conspicuous and not to use their powers under any circumstances. He didn't want them to be spotted by the local vampire population. By now the sun had risen and outside the well the air was thick with the sound of gunfire and people screaming, but it wasn't the soldiers that the three vampires were hiding from, it was the sun. _

_The shifting angle of the rays reached Aido's cheek and he winced at the pain as it touched him, quickly drawing away from it. The sun here was not like the sun at home. It was worse somehow, a lot worse. He could go outside during the day at home, even if he didn't like it much, but here it was much more painful. Besides that, he'd taken a bullet earlier. He was healing fine, but it _hurt _and it lowered his tolerance. There was no safe cover from the sun to be had in the midst of the chaos topside, so the three vampires had to stay in the well all day, using the scant shade and murky water to protect as much of themselves as possible while the unforgiving light blazed down from above. _

_Aido broke the rules a little and chilled the water for them all. That helped some, but it was still a crappy day, which was rounded out by Aido's awful discovery when they finally did crawl out of that nasty hole in the ground once the sun went down. The pill box in which he carried his blood tablets had a faulty seal, apparently. He watched the muddy water, red with the remains of the ruined pills, run out into his hand with a sinking feeling. He'd lost the rest of his supply along with a lot of other equipment when they lost the lab. These had been all he had left. And they'd just been told they were to stay and conduct more trials, who knew how long that would take?_

At least a month without an available blood substitute was how long it had taken, contributing in no small part to the hell it had been for him, and the reason he'd taken so much damage from the sun.

Aido shook off the memory of that sinking feeling and picked up his glass, tossing back several large swigs. Funny how extended absence could make even this seem more satisfying, even if it didn't help the taste at all. Guilt curled in his stomach and he repressed it. He hadn't done anything wrong. He hadn't...

"Aido, Diachi says that you will have much to tell me," Kaname said after the server had left and it was just the four of them. "He has already told me part of it."

"But I bet not all of it," Aido blurted before he could stop himself, then squirmed slightly under the intense and curious look which Kaname fixed upon him.

"I rather suspected not," the pureblood responded evenly. "But I'm quite interested to hear what you think he didn't tell me."

Zero was fully attentive to the conversation again, watching Aido and Kaname silently as he ate. He was getting an awfully funny vibe from Kaname and he was starting to worry again. Something Kaname must have learned from Diachi had upset him, Zero knew him well enough to see that. The sensation that all was not as it seemed had returned and he considered the idea that maybe Aido hadn't been entirely dramatizing about whatever it was that he'd only wanted to tell to the pureblood.

"Did he tell you that it dramatically increases the probability of a human dying if they are bitten by a pureblood and that it... um... it's kind of similar to..." Aido stopped, faltering, glancing between Kaname and Zero as if he'd like very much to be spared having to figure out some diplomatic way to say that which he knew there _was_ no diplomatic way to say.

"To the illness that claimed Yuki. Yes, Aido, he did," Kaname said very quietly, both taking pity on Aido and not wanting to draw that part out. He didn't like having to say it, but it was better this way, it saved him trying to figure out how to tell Zero later. He shot his lover a pained look as he saw the shock register on the hunter's face.

Zero leaned back in his chair a little, his queasiness coming back with a vengeance for a moment and forcing him to breathe deeply. He knew it wasn't so much a physical cause this time, though. It was the ache in his heart that triggered it. He saw Kaname watching him intently and quickly gave him a faint but brave smile, worried about how Kaname was taking this news and wanting to be there for him.

Aido and Kain wisely let them have a moment, finding their plates quite interesting until the pureblood and the hunter broke eye contact a moment later and Aido took it as a signal to continue. He wasn't really surprised that Diachi had told Kaname all that - those were things he could hardly have expected to get away with hiding, especially considering the deal the two purebloods had regarding the acquisition of just that type of information. However...

"Did he also tell you, that the virus can transfer from humans to vampires?" Aido asked and the sudden, dead silence that descended on the room answered his question.

Kain actually dropped his fork and it clattered on his plate in the intense stillness. "A humanosis?" he breathed, disbelieving. "Are you sure? That's almost unheard of."

Zero knew that a zoonosis was an infectious disease that could transfer from animals to humans, so it wasn't hard to assume that a humanosis was one that could transfer from humans to vampires, although he'd never heard that word before and had not believed that such a thing was possible. Apparently, no one else in the room had believed it either, until now.

"Not _almost_," Kaname corrected slowly, his face blank in a way that Zero knew meant he was processing a dozen different trains of thought at the same time. "It _is _unheard of. Human disease does not affect vampires. We do not get "sick" unless we are injured or poisoned and our regenerative systems are severely compromised, and even if that does happen, as soon as we are back to peak any such symptoms would vanish. Aido, are you quite sure about this?"

Aido swallowed and nodded. "Yes. I saw the results myself. I wasn't supposed to. Dr. Embry and Dr. Huang intentionally hid them from the rest of us and no one spoke of it, but I knew there was something they weren't telling. I... well, I snooped and eavesdropped and I found out," he said simply and without shame. He didn't know whether Kish and Granger had known. He might never know, but he hoped they hadn't. Well... he hoped Kish hadn't. It would make what had happened a little easier to take.

"I was in An'swala with four other scientists. They fed from the local populace while we were there," Aido explained. Zero frowned darkly, but no one was shocked. They were talking about vampires, and outside those who whole-heartedly embraced co-existence, blood drinking was how they survived.

_"You forget how to use your fangs, kid?" Granger teased him, wiping blood from his mouth with the back of his hand and getting far too much amusement out of seeing the way Aido's body was responding to the scent. Granger was actually a decent sort usually, but he could be a total jerk right after feeding, it brought out the worst in his vampiric nature. _

_"Granger's right, Aido, you should drink something. You look like hell and you're not doing us any good," Embry pointed out logically. _

_Aido turned away, ignoring them studiously in favor of the slide he was preparing to preserve. He _felt _like hell, but the other vampires didn't understand his problem. They couldn't comprehend why he could not consider tapping the human population around him for his needs. _

_"Let him be," Kish was the only one who seemed sympathetic, if not entirely understanding. She shook her head. "You know he belongs to Kuran-sama, not Sato-sama. We all have our orders to follow." _

_"Kuran-sama is a cruel and petty leader to demand his followers starve themselves to suit his whims," Huang aired her opinion, and if she hadn't been a girl, Aido would have decked her for that. _

_"He is __**not**__!" Aido shot back hotly. "He doesn't demand anything. I follow his example because I believe in peace. I'm __**fine **__and I don't _feel _like drinking right now, so leave me the hell alone and let me focus on this sample before it degrades any further!"_

Aido blinked and the memory was gone.

"They were discrete and careful about it of course, and no one was hurt," he continued. "But that must be how they contracted it. Near the end of our stay, only a day or two before we left, I found the hidden test results... " Aido shook his head, obviously still unable to quite believe it himself. "The virus was present in their blood. It did not seem to be doing any damage, in fact it seemed completely inert judging from the test results, but it was _there_. It was a little different though," he qualified quickly. "The structure of it had changed slightly, perhaps in an effort to adapt, but it must not have been a successful adaption because no one got sick. There's a possibility it could be passed on again to humans if they're fed upon by an infected vampire, but I'm only guessing on that one. What does seem to be certain though, is that there seems to be no physical reaction to the virus in vampires. We don't become ill and it appears to be completely benign, no more than junk cells. I suspect it's simply built wrong for latching onto anything important or else our regenerative abilities have it completely stymied. But the mere fact that it can even survive in our systems and show up in our blood is pretty disturbing," Aido admitted. "Embry seemed enamored by the enormity of the discovery, but Huang was pretty upset about it. Benign or not, it's... well, it's disconcerting to know it's there. I think that's actually why I was able to find out, she wasn't as careful as she should have been."

"Do you think they were instructed not to tell you, or was it their own idea?" Kaname inquired slowly, trying to make the pieces fit, but he still felt like he was trying to force together tiles that were wrong for one another. He wondered how much of this Diachi had already known when they spoke.

"Honestly, I don't know," Aido admitted. "Like I said, I only found all this out a few days before we left and there wasn't a lot of time. But I admit, I was curious if Diachi-sama would mention it to you. I can't believe that Embry wouldn't have told him by now, if he hadn't already."

"Indeed..." Kaname nodded thoughtfully. "And is there anything else he might have neglected to mention?"

"Probably nothing else that important." Aido shook his head. "But... well, there is one more thing, which Diachi-sama may _not _know yet." Aido's blue eyes found the table and stayed there. "Human to vampire contact is not the only way for the virus to spread. Infected vampires can also infect... other vampires."

Kain's eyes darkened in growing apprehension as everyone present suddenly seemed to register _why_ Aido might know that.

"I lost my supply of blood tablets fairly early on during our stay in An'swala," he explained, pushing on doggedly although he wasn't meeting anyone's eyes anymore. "It was really hard with the heat and the getting chased around and all, but I didn't take human blood," he said quickly, his gaze darting momentarily towards Kaname as if urgent to make that point. "I wouldn't. But... one of the other members of the team gave to me."

Aido's gaze held steady on the table. He felt kind of nauseous, but he wasn't familiar enough with the sensation to know what it was. His head was starting to ache more pronouncedly and he resisted the urge to rub it as the ache and the topic at hand brought back the recent past.

_He pressed his palms into his eyes, breathing rapidly. It was cool inside the small room they were using as their lab that week, but the sunlight coming in around the blinds was torture. He had a splitting headache and he felt so dizzy, he couldn't concentrate. _

_"Aido... you're such an idiot. Stop doing this to yourself," the quiet voice made him jerk and look up quickly. He'd thought he was alone in the lab, since he knew better than to let Embry see how he was feeling. It wasn't Embry though, it was Kish, looking at him with those wide, dark eyes of hers. Despite her vampire blood, Naija Kish had the tawny, striking features of her Indo-Aryan roots. With her exotic, dark beauty she was the polar opposite of Aido's blonde, fair-eyed older sisters and yet somehow the look in her eyes often reminded him of them. That was to say, those keen eyes of hers seemed to regarded him as if she found him amusing, which was not entirely how he would have preferred to be seen._

_Aido scowled and looked away, but she caught his cheek in her hand and turned his head back towards her. "Look, I respect your beliefs and your dedication to your pureblood, I really do," she said quietly, and for once there was a glimmer in her gaze that said that was the truth. "But you can't go on like this, it's no good for the team and it's no good for you." Her words were practical, but it somehow sounded less harsh than when Embry said such things. _

_Aido opened his mouth to protest, but Kish silenced him with her finger on his lips. "You're not supposed to drink from humans, I get that. But surely, there's no problems with you drinking from another vampire, is there?" she said simply. _

_Aido's gaze immediately shot to her graceful neck, already exposed by the tank-top she was wearing while indoors. He wrenched it away again and returned his gaze to her face, swallowing hard. He wasn't sure if she was saying what he thought she was. He was almost too miserable to be glib... almost. But then, that was his defense against the possibility that he was reading her wrong or that she was playing with him. "Naija... are you asking me to bite you?" he managed to muster one of his charming, playboy smiles. "Because I'd be only too happy to ob-"_

_Kish cuffed him upside the head. Her gaze was amused again, and a little irritated. "Shut up, Hanabusa. You'd be more tolerable if you didn't speak. I'm doing this because it's best for all of us, so don't flatter yourself. Now get on with it before I come to my senses and change my mind." _

_"Whatever you say, darling," he drawled, making her bare her fangs at him, but he was already drawing her close and burying his face against her neck, trying and failing to hide the tremble of his need. All teasing aside, he really did appreciate what she was doing for him. Kish didn't push him away. She curled her fingers in his hair and let him take that for which she knew he was starving. _

_Aido did not have a lover-boy reputation for nothing and once the edge was off, he used his fangs with skill, wanting to make it good for her. He almost expected her to get angry with him for that, but she didn't. _

Aido shook himself out of the momentary reverie, although it had taken only a heartbeat to transpire within his mind. The past was all starting to blur together like a whirl of colors fading to grey. _Damn, _his stomach hurt, and it puzzled him. Admittedly, he was nervous and a little frightened. He feared Kaname's disapproval for some reason, although he hadn't done anything wrong or out of the ordinary. Yet even that bit of nerves shouldn't be making him feel like _this_.

"Are you all right, Aido?" it was Kaname's soft and surprisingly gentle voice that finally brought the blonde's gaze back up. The pureblood's dark eyes were concerned and he certainly didn't seem upset.

"Y-yes," Aido answered quickly, allowing himself to relax a little. He took another deep draught from his crimson water glass, but it didn't seem to help. If possible, it seemed to make him feel worse. "She only gave to me once, but it was enough, I was mostly okay after that. Kish must have already been infected when I drank from her. Since I never touched any of the local humans, that's the only way I can imagine that the virus could have gotten into my blood. And... it is. I ran the tests after I saw Embry and Huang's results," he finished quietly.

"But you're okay, you're not going to get sick, right?" Zero asked. He was pretty sure Aido had already said no, but he wanted to be certain. Perhaps it was because he was the only one present with a human viewpoint on disease and illness, but he couldn't help being deeply worried for his friend after hearing all that.

Aido gave a wan smile. "No, I'm not going to get sick. I've apparently had the virus in my system for weeks and nothing's happened. The others have had it even longer, also without any negative reaction. It stands to reason that the same is true of the native vampire population. They probably don't even realize they have it. I'm certain we _would _have heard of it by now if a bunch of vampires had suddenly started getting sick. That's not the kind of thing that would go unnoticed. My test results were the same as Embry's and Huang's - the virus markers are present, but they're completely inert. I also can't pass them on to anyone else unless there's direct body fluid contact like biting or being bitten or..."

"Or having sex?" Kain added helpfully, earning him a death glare from his blushing cousin who didn't like discussing such things in front of Kaname.

"Or things like that," Aido ground out between his teeth, kicking Kain under the table. "And even if another vampire did catch it, it wouldn't hurt them either."

Zero could tell that despite the fact that having the virus in his blood seemed to physically mean nothing, and Aido was trying to make very light of it, he wasn't at all happy. Zero couldn't blame him. The thought of it would have unnerved anyone, and vampires were much more perfection-conscious than most.

"Diachi has requested that I allow you to return and continue working for him, Aido," Kaname told him. "I told him I would consider it, but after what I have just found out I am strongly inclined to refuse." The hint of protectiveness in Kaname's tone was faint but unmistakable. While it would definitely be beneficial to continue having someone inside Diachi's workings, he rated the danger of the situation too high. "What about you, Aido? Do you wish to return?"

Aido seemed surprised that he was being asked, and his brows furrowed as he considered the matter. His headache was getting worse. The truth was, with the exception of the last month, he had enjoyed his work abroad... but he was also rather homesick. Being here with Kain, Zero and Kaname now was making him realize just _how_ homesick he'd been feeling.

"No, Kaname-sama," Aido said quietly, and it wasn't just because he thought that's what Kaname wanted him to say. "Unless you wish me to return, I would rather stay here. Although... I would like to continue studying the An'swalan virus," he admitted, and no one could dispute that he had a very good reason for that desire.

Kaname nodded. "Then here you shall stay. I'm certain Diachi could be convinced to let you continue to collaborate with his labs on the virus from a remote location." The pureblood liked that idea, actually, because it meant he'd still have yet another set of eyes on whatever was going down, even if only from a distance. The more he heard about everything that had happened, the more troubled he became. It was like swimming in the ocean and feeling something brush by you... he had the feeling they were witnessing the ripples of something larger beginning to stir, but _what _was hidden and obscured.

"Perhaps we should - " but the pureblood never got to finish whatever he was about to say because Aido suddenly doubled over, clutching his middle as a sharp pain ripped through him. Nausea swelled harshly, constricting his stomach and burning his throat. Aido, who had never experienced something quite like this before, didn't understand what was happening and only just managed to turn his head away from the table in time as he started throwing up.

Aido tried to get up and flee, mortified and confused, but he stumbled, his stomach still heaving. He slid to his knees beside his chair instead.

Everyone else at the table jumped to their feet and there was a clatter of chairs being brusquely pushed back. Kain got over his shock quickly and went to his cousin's side, but Zero had recognized Aido's distress faster and was already there, steadying him as he fell. He supported Aido's shoulders, careful to stay to one side and out of the way as he knelt down beside him.

Aido was choking because he was trying to fight his spasming stomach. He covered his mouth and tried to twist away from everyone. His wide blue eyes were frightened. He felt like his entire insides were coming up and it both mortified and terrified him.

Zero realized that the blonde had most likely never been truly sick a day in his life, at least not in a conventional, human way, and he probably didn't know what to make of what he was feeling or how to deal with it. It would have been amusing if Zero wasn't so worried. "Stop fighting it, let it come up if it wants to," he counseled urgently when Aido started choking in earnest. "Relax, damn it, you're not dying, just throwing up. Calm down," he urged, both gruff and soothing at the same time.

Kain and Kaname were standing close, but seemed a little at a loss. Kain was looking at Aido like he'd never seen anyone get sick before... well, come to think of it, the ex-human supposed he probably hadn't.

"Bowl," Zero said, gesturing towards the table as Aido continued to heave. The smell and the sound was strongly re-awakening his queasiness and he battled to keep his own stomach from turning as he gestured towards the large, mostly empty serving bowl in which the salad had come. Ichiru used to get sick a lot and Zero had always taken care of him. The ex-human knew what to do and he took charge easily.

Kain quickly grabbed the bowl and handed it to him, crouching hesitantly down next to the hunter and his cousin, not sure what to do, but wanting to help.

Zero took the bowl and pushed it in front of Aido. "Take it, aim in here," he instructed in an even, soothing tone as he nudged it into Aido's grasp. Aido did, gripping the bowl with both hands until his knuckles were white as he hunched over it.

Zero frowned as he rubbed Aido's back. The blonde was starting to throw up blood and it was an eerily familiar kind of heaving, one that brought back horrible memories of what it felt like when he used to try to take blood tablets. If he hadn't known that Aido had no problem with them, he would have sworn it was the same kind of reaction.

Zero had to press his eyes closed for a moment, breathing through his mouth, trying hard not to become sick himself. A soft hand touched his shoulder and he opened his eyes to find Kaname crouching next to he and Aido.

Zero saw that Kaname was holding a glass of freshly poured water in one hand, waiting to give it to Aido when he stopped heaving. The pureblood had experience with Zero being sick, so he had learned a little about what helped.

Aido presently ran out of substance to throw up, although the heaves continued. Kaname gently offered him the glass but the blonde was almost too awed to take it. He seemed amazed that Kaname hadn't taken leave of the unpleasant scents and sight, much less that he was trying to help him. Aido was also shaking pretty badly, so in the end, Zero took the glass and held it for him while Aido drank and rinsed his mouth.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." the miserable noble was murmuring profusely, and they all knew it was for Kaname's benefit, since Aido probably wouldn't have been that worried about inconveniencing Kain and Zero.

"Shh, it's all right," Kaname touched Aido's forehead gently, brushing his hair back from his flushed face. "This isn't your fault. Something's wrong, but we'll find out what it is, all right? You're going to be okay," he promised in calm, sure tones.

Zero felt Aido relax in his arms and stop trembling so badly. He wasn't sure if it was because Kaname was using his ability to sooth the blonde's pain some, or if it was just because Aido trusted the pureblood so implicitly that if Kaname said he was going to be all right, then the noble believed he would be. In either case, Zero was glad because he knew from experience that relaxing was essential to stopping the quaking, aborted heaves that still occasionally rocked the blonde's hunched over form.

"Kain," Kaname caught the redhead's eyes and saw the agony of worry in them. "Go find Seiren. Tell her what's happened and that we need quick, discrete medical attention and transportation for Aido. She'll arrange everything. We're going to take good care of him."

Kain nodded and left quickly, casting Aido one more look but knowing he left him in good hands. The elder noble seemed bolstered by having something to do and his anguish quickly reformed into determination.

Zero had to admit he admired the way Kaname could calm and give purpose to just about anyone with only a few words. Sometimes it irritated him that the pureblood would talk and act in that omniscient way of his, as if he knew all and everything was perfectly under control. Occasionally it made Zero want to scream and tell him that he _didn't _know everything and to get over himself already. But at moments like this, Zero could begin to understand the power imparted by his lover's outward displays of confidence. Kaname acted that way because it inspired answering confidence and resolve in others. As long as it appeared that Kaname knew exactly what he was doing and how everything would turn out, then it gave Kain and Aido both strength and hope even though both of them were obviously badly shaken.

It must be heady, to have that kind of power over people. But it was also a two-edged sword, because they expected you really be able to make everything right. Zero knew just how much those kind of expectations weighed upon Kaname's soul. The pureblood seemed sometimes to believe his own press, to believe that he really should be able to make everything the way he wanted it to be and took it as unforgivable failure when he could not.

Aido was starting to calm. He was no longer heaving, but was still obviously in pain. He held his middle and rocked, concentrating on breathing. Zero helped him up and guided him to sit on one of the couches along the wall before going back and automatically starting to clean up the mess. He reached for the bowl, meaning to empty it so Aido had something handy in case he got sick again, but Kaname quickly caught his arm, pulling him away from the mess.

Kaname often took umbrage with it when Zero tried to do things he thought were other people's tasks, but one look at the flash of frightened worry in the pureblood's eyes and Zero knew that wasn't what this was about.

"Zero... don't. The blood," Kaname murmured, casting his voice low enough so that Aido wouldn't hear him. Zero looked down at the mess on the floor and realized what Kaname meant. It was predominately red in color because of the blood tablets Aido had upchucked, but they could smell real blood in amongst the nocuous scent of the vomit as well - Aido's blood.

Right now, they had no way of knowing what was wrong with Aido. It could be that he was just really run out after everything that had happened... that was the best case senario. Worst case... well, he had just gotten done telling them he had a new, unknown virus in his blood. What if it wasn't as benign as they thought? The large lapse in time since initial introduction made the timing of this completely nonsensical and the well being of the other infected vampires was impossible to explain, but still... it was a possibility that had to be considered. Vampires didn't just start doubling over and throwing up for no reason.

While there was even a possibility that that was the case, Kaname could not risk Zero becoming exposed to such a thing. The horrible memories of what had happened to Yuki were seared too deeply into his memory... he could never even contemplate a repeat with Zero. Never. It scared him almost to tears just thinking about it.

Zero swallowed slowly, more because of his own, similar memories than out of fear. Nothing made sense and everything had him worried. What did it all mean? He nodded and let the mess be. Instead he emptied the decorative glass globes out of an ornamental bowl which was sitting on one of the other tables and brought that over to Aido, setting it gently in his lap just in case.

"Thanks," Aido mumbled, holding onto it, rocking a little as he hunched over on the couch. He was obviously getting scared again and Kaname touched his back gently, reassuring him with the gesture.

Zero met Kaname's eyes over Aido's hunched form, pain flickering in his amethyst gaze. _What are we going to do? What if something is really wrong with him? _

Only with Zero could Kaname let his mask slip and only to the hunter could the pureblood's silent, troubled gaze for once return a truthful, uneasy answer. _I don't know, Zero... I just don't know._


	14. Lengthening Shadows

_A/N: Thanks for being patient over the holidays, everybody! *cracks her knuckles and tries to get back into the writing groove*. This chapter settles some questions raised by the last chapter... or does it? Let's just keep an open mind, shall we? ;)_

**Chapter Fourteen: "Lengthening Shadows"**

"Sorry, Zero. You have a rampant strain of the stupiditis gene in your blood. There's no cure," Aido deadpanned crankily as he bent over his microscope while the ex-human hovered at his shoulder, looking at him expectantly.

Zero's eyes narrowed. "Not funny. Did you like the hospital so much you want to go back already?" he threatened.

"You wish," Aido shot back, but he wavered on his feet, having to catch hold of the edge of the table. His knees buckled and Zero was quick to support him, wrapping his arms around the blonde's waist from behind and holding Aido back against his body to keep him upright.

"Damn it!" Kain was beside them in a flash. "I said you should take a break. You've been at this for hours now. You were in the hospital only yesterday for crying out loud."

Aido had already recovered from his faint spell and growled dismissively, trying to disentangle from Zero with a bit of embarrassment. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Kaname-sama needs me to run these blood tests, no one else knows what they're looking for."

"_Kaname-sama_ also doesn't want you keeling over at the microscope, Aido," the pureblood in question chided affectionately as he re-entered the room. "I told you I would get you any help you needed..."

Aido looked scandalized at the thought of anyone else handling anything that he was capable of doing for Kaname. "No way. I can do this."

"I know you can," Kaname concurred mildly. "Just don't push yourself too hard."

Aido had been in the hospital for the rest of the night after his attack during lunch. The illness had finally passed although a dizzy weakness remained. The doctors blamed the latter mostly on malnutrition from a prolonged lack of blood or blood substitute and repeated sun exposure, both results of his time in An'swala. The other, more drastic symptoms they had a harder time explaining. Aido's system was all out of whack. The virus in his blood was changing and metastasizing into other areas of his body, weakening him and prolonging his dizzy spells and general fatigue.

The vampire doctors were at a loss and asking a lot of questions about things Kaname didn't particularly want them to know. Aido quickly became fed up with what he called their_ 'amateurish stabbing around in the dark'_ and had finally checked himself out of the hospital, telling the doctors to butt out and let him study his own results so he could feel like he was actually in good hands. He was, after all, one of only five people who were truly qualified to study this virus, and currently the only one of them on this continent. He'd paled when he read the results they _had _managed to gather and realized that the virus was undergoing yet another mutation.

After Kaname discretely wiped the other doctors' memories, Aido had requested that the pureblood quarantine him in his lab until he knew what was happening and whether he was dangerous to anyone else. Kaname had complied, making sure that Aido was given everything and anything he might need.

Aido's private laboratory was actually a good sized complex on the outskirts of town and the blonde already had it equipped with all the latest and greatest gadgets and machinery suitable for whatever project he was currently working on, so there was little Kaname really needed to supply him with except for access to the Sato's information and scientists. Without telling Diachi about Aido's illness, Kaname had diplomatically informed him that Aido was going to be staying home for a while, but would be happy to work on the matter of the virus remotely.

Thankfully, it hadn't taken long before Aido discerned that he was not contagious in any new ways, and it was safe to be around other people so long as they did not exchange body fluid. Although many vampires would still not have wanted to go near him with a 10 foot pole, Kain, Zero and Kaname had come over almost immediately to check on him. Aido would never say it, but he appreciated the fact that they weren't treating him like a pariah. Little things, like the way Zero so unflinchingly caught and held him during his dizzy spell clearly reflected that they felt no fear or revulsion towards touching him. Precious few others would be so casual about his condition if they knew about it. To a vampire, an honest to goodness communicable disease was so unthinkable that it would carry a thousand times the stigma that it did for humans. Aido was trying not to think about what his life was going to be like if this was permanent. Looking forward to centuries of being the proverbial leper, unable to enjoy any kind of intimate contact with anyone sounded like being sentenced to a living purgatory to him. Of course, that was assuming that the virus wasn't going to kill him at some point, which might be assuming too much for all he knew right now.

"By the way," Kaname added, the mischievous glint in his eye injecting a note of welcome normalcy back into the young noble's gloomy thoughts. The pureblood's gaze slid across the way Zero was still half holding, half supporting Aido, the blonds' tousled head all but tucked under his chin. "You two are making a cuter and cuter couple every time I see you. I do hope I'm not going to have to get jealous, Zero."

Zero and Aido both blushed a bit and scrambled apart. Zero quickly removed his arms from Aido's waist and Aido edged as far away from the hunter as he could get while still being in reach of his scopes. While Aido and Zero were both busy divesting themselves of one another's cooties, Kaname's phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID and saw it was the office. He opted to let it go to voicemail as he returned his attention to Aido.

"Have you had a chance to finish your study of the blood samples yet?" he asked, quiet now and much more sober than before. Aido was suffering from a virus that was similar to what had killed Yuki. Although they were apparently completely different pathogens save for the couple of eerie similarities, the possibility that both diseases might have had the ability to hop from human to vampire was something they needed to check out immediately. If Kaname had caught it from Yuki when he tried to turn her, he could have unwittingly passed it on to Zero and anyone else he had bitten or given blood to since then. They would have had no way of knowing, no reason to suspect something like that. It was an unheard of thought and Kaname had certainly never had any call to have a blood test before in his life.

Now though... now Kaname's stomach was tied in knots, although he hid it well. He wasn't so concerned for himself, but the thought that he could have passed something like that on to Zero was eating him from the inside out. True, neither of them had ever shown any symptoms like Aido's, but then, the other scientists who had been infected even before Aido weren't showing any signs either. They had no way yet of knowing what had triggered the sudden change in Aido's condition. What if he and Zero simply hadn't been exposed to the right conditions yet?

There was no way in hell Kaname could face the possibility of maybe someday losing Zero to the same thing that had taken Yuki. He had to know and he had to know right away. That was why they'd been here at Aido's lab for the better part of the night. Everything was taking a backseat to this, even his business affairs with Nasser and Mission Oil. At the moment, he didn't even care if he lost the bet and had to submit to Nasser's twisted domination so long as Zero wasn't sick. So long as there wasn't this dreadful, terrifying possibility that his lover might be carrying some hidden time bomb in his blood that could kill him. So long as it wasn't all Kaname's fault, _again, _and Zero wasn't possibly doomed because the pureblood had unknowingly inflicted ruin upon him through his very blood. _Oh God, please... if the world is not a totally cruel and spiteful place, please, please... _

Aido nodded quickly. "Yes, I just did," he confirmed. "I double and triple checked everything," he stressed, unconscious of the fact that Kaname was in anxious agony each moment it took him to answer. "To be honest, it's taken me longer than usual to be sure because pure vampire blood is very unique," he explained. "It's not like studying other blood, even noble blood, and I don't have any reference samples to work with." Purebloods did not usually allow their blood or their bodies to be medically studied and Aido had found it a deeply fascinating and amazing experience. Kaname's blood was _alive _on the slide, teeming with unique cellular activity even though it had been separated from his body for hours now. It was no wonder their blood was so powerful and could do so many things. Ingesting that crimson elixir must be somewhat akin to ingesting a bunch of almost intelligent, completely organic nanites. Actually, the comparison (which was wildly imperfect and stemmed only from a total lack of any other suitable comparison) made all current nanotechnology look clumsy and completely infantile.

Kaname was so tense he thought he might have to hurt Aido if the young scientist didn't hurry the hell up. He almost started when he felt Zero's hand unexpectedly slide into his. He'd not realized the hunter had moved to his side. The quiet look in Zero's violet gaze said he knew exactly how anxious Kaname was, even if everyone else was fooled.

Zero squeezed his lover's hand lightly, waiting for whatever was coming. He was concerned for Kaname, but it had been so long now without any ill effects appearing that it gave him reason to hold out a fair amount of hope. He had to believe that if anything was going to show up, surely it would have done so when Kaname's system was totally compromised in the weeks after the flood some years back when the pureblood had only half his power because the other half was bound to the unconscious hunter. As for himself... well, he didn't _feel _sick and he refused to be afraid of shadows and nebulous possibilities. He'd lived under a death sentence before, the much less certain possibility of this one didn't scare him. _Whatever happens, Kaname, it is not your fault. We didn't know. I wouldn't trade being close to you for anything. _

Kaname squeezed his hand back tightly, the exchange of glances having taken only a heartbeat. Everyone's attention was still fixed on Aido.

"But as far as I can tell, and I'm fairly positive on this, there is no trace of this virus or anything kindred that I can see in either your blood or Zero's. Keeping in mind that the viruses are not identical, I compared it not just to the An'swalan virus but also to a reference sample from uh... from the possible infection source," he meant Yuki, but wasn't going to say so. "You're both clear. It must have been different enough that it could not cross species, or if it did, it was not strong enough to survive in your body, Kaname-sama."

An intense surge of relief swept through Kaname, so strongly that it almost made him feel faint. He realized he was gripping Zero's hand so tightly it must hurt and he eased his hold with a broad smile. Turning, he unexpectedly caught Zero's face between his hands and gave him a deep, joyful kiss right then and there. _Thank God. Just... thank God. _

"Ummnh!" Zero's half-hearted protest was easily swallowed and he gave into his lover's momentary burst of relieved elation, choosing not to care that they had an audience. It was a big weight off his mind too and Kaname had obviously been so bitterly scared, he couldn't help but respond.

Zero felt Kaname's tongue happily exploring his throat and pushed him back wryly. _Oookay, relief was one thing, no need to overdo it._

They parted a few moments later, their lips flushed from the kiss... rather like Zero's face, actually. With enviable smoothness, Kaname lightly wiped his mouth on his hand and turned back to Aido with a smile. "Thank you, Aido. That's very good news."

"Uhh... yeah... it is," Aido's eyes were wide and he was a little flushed too, but Zero didn't miss the fact that the blonde looked more interested and pleased than disgusted, at least until he noticed Zero watching him and he quickly pulled his _"ew gross" _look into place again.

_Huh, that sneaky little vampire twit. _Zero suddenly halfway wondered if despite the way he usually acted, Aido actually _liked _seeing Kaname be intimate with him, even if it was just because of the chance to ogle his beloved pureblood acting amorous and less reserved than usual.

_Less reserved _certainly covered the way Kaname was acting now. "Eh..." Zero gave up the protest before he had truly started it and just rolled his eyes as Kaname slid up behind him, arms curling around his waist, chin resting on his shoulder. He could practically feel the happy, clingy vibes radiating from his lover as the pureblood unabashedly nuzzled him.

Kaname knew Zero was a little uncertain about all this contact in this setting, but he really couldn't help himself. He'd been so scared and he needed the physical reassurance of Zero's body in his arms, needed to hold him tightly now that he knew he didn't have to be so terrified of losing him any moment. After all, it wasn't as if Aido or Kain minded, or had a right to.

"What about you, Aido? Are you going to be all right?" Kaname inquired with genuine concern, his chin still resting on Zero's shoulder, his arms tightly looped around his waist, hands splayed on the hunter's flat stomach, as if having a conversation while feeling Zero up was an incredibly natural thing. As usual, the two nobles took their cue from him and also acted like it was completely normal.

"I... I don't know yet," Aido admitted. "The virus has de-stabilized. It's spreading and changing, but it's too early yet to know to what effect. However, I think I've isolated the catalyst that triggered the metamorphosis." It was easier for him if he tried to be clinical about this and approach it like a purely mental challenge to be solved. If he thought about it too much on a personal level... it would cripple his ability to be effective. His brow creased a little more. "I believe it was the blood tablets," he admitted. "They're one of the only elements that differ between myself and the other scientists, I didn't have any after being infected until yesterday. I'm still tracing down the chemical trail, I'll need to confirm it, but that's my current hypothesis."

Zero forgot his plan of elbowing Kaname in the ribs as what Aido was saying made it through to him. "You mean... you're allergic to the tablets now, like me?" he asked slowly. This wasn't good. Not only for Aido, but also for the cause of co-existence in general. If this virus made vampires unable to take the blood substitutes... it would set the movement back almost to square one. Zero could tell from the tightness of Kaname's body behind him that the pureblood was having the same thoughts.

"Well... _allergic_ isn't quite the right word," Aido corrected slightly. "They're creating a harmful reaction when they interact with the virus I'm carrying. Some element in the tablets is acting as a catalyst that activates the virus when it dissolves into my blood... but I guess in the end the result is the same, yes. I certainly can't take them any more until I find out more about exactly what's going on." Aido's gaze dropped. "I'm sorry, Kaname-sama," he said as if it was his fault.

"Don't be ridiculous, Aido," Kaname assured. "This isn't your doing. I'll make sure you have a regular supply of donated blood, as fresh as possible," he said quietly. Donated blood was a tricky proposition to manage well, that was part of why they had developed the tablets in the first place. While blood banks worked fine for human medical needs, they weren't so great for vampires. Something happened to normal blood when it sat for a while. Even if it was perfectly preserved, something about it staled and lost its vitality if it was drunk too long after it had been separated from the body. But for someone who could neither take the tablets nor afford to bite another living being without passing on his malady, it was the only option they had.

"He doesn't need it," Kain said quickly, his jaw setting firmly. "He can have mine." He placed his hand on Aido's shoulder.

"No!" Aido shook his head quickly. "Akatsuki, I can't, I couldn't risk..."

"You don't have to bite me, you big idiot. I can bleed into a cup, can't I? That's as fresh as it gets, almost as good as the real thing." He was right, it was. "Ruka and I already talked about it this morning. She's in too. Between the both of us, you'll be fine, Hanabusa," Kain promised fiercely. Ruka was currently out of town at an event her family was sponsoring, but she would be back later today. She'd gotten a ticket on the first plane back as soon as she found out what had happened.

Aido blinked quickly to keep his eyes from stinging. "Thanks," he murmured, then cleared his throat. "Of course, your blood and Ruka's will probably taste pretty much the same, what with the way you two have been sharing it all the time..." he added with a mischievous light in his eyes, needing the normality of the banter, needing to not dwell too deeply on anything serious.

_"AIDO!" _Kain cuffed his cousin upside the back of his head, glancing meaningfully towards Kaname and Zero.

"Ow! Don't beat up the sick person. I might bleed on you, you know, and then you'd really be screwed," Aido groused, rubbing his head. He glanced towards the other two vampires, following his cousin's gaze. "Oh. Oops." He smiled with a shrug. "Come on, Kain, I'm sure they've already guessed. You and Ruka aren't nearly as subtle as you think."

Kaname smiled at Kain, with definite approval in his gaze. "I'm afraid he's right, I am aware that you two are getting very close. And I'm glad."

Zero thought it might be the first time he'd seen Kain almost sort of blush. The tall vampire shifted a little and looked away, but he seemed happy. "Thanks," he said quietly before turning a glare back on Aido. "But try to keep your mouth shut, can't you? We haven't... you know, made any kind of formal plans or talked to our parents yet and you _know _how old fashioned they are." Kain very much wanted to ask Ruka to marry him, but he wasn't sure she was all the way decided yet. He didn't want to push and lose her.

"They'll be thrilled and you know it," Aido muttered. "You should just quit being a coward and ask her alread... ow! HEY what did I say about hitting the sick person?!"

Kaname chuckled and kissed Zero's neck while they watched the two nobles' antics. Aido and Kain were relating to one another in comfortable, well worn patterns, letting the familiar interactions sooth the frightening ache of the unfamiliar circumstances and the unknown future. Zero and Kaname held onto one another, doing much the same. They were all aware that they were in a deadly serious situation with disturbingly far-reaching implications, one that none of them fully understood yet. But letting that paralyze them would not help and right now, the facade of normal life was the best defense for all of them. Reality would intrude all too soon, it always did.

Kaname's cell phone rang again.

The pureblood sighed as he once again saw his office number on the display. He answered this time, reluctantly releasing Zero and having a short conversation with the person on the other end. When he hung up, Zero could see that whatever momentary relaxation the pureblood had exhibited in the wake of finding out that they weren't infected had quickly vanished under a new level of tension once more. Suddenly, the hunter realized he missed it. Clingy Kaname wasn't really so bad after all. Funny how you often didn't discover those things until after the moment had passed.

"Zero, I have to go," Kaname told him, the intent furrow of his brow saying that his mind was already a million miles away, chewing on some new matter. He drew Zero away a little and lowered his voice so they could speak privately. He didn't actually care whether Kain and Aido heard, it was just that it was a conversation he only wanted to have with Zero.

"Orion and I have stalemated for the moment. We both have roughly equal share acquisition and are fighting over the last few hold-outs who haven't yet sold, along with other influential factors." He waved his hand vaguely. "There's some matters to do with premium versus normal stock and the legal bargaining weight of the An'swalan royal family," he explained briefly, ignoring the details that Zero could care less about in favor of the important bottom line. "What it all means is that the head of Orion is flying out here. Actually, I was just informed that he's on his way right now and will arrive within the hour. We're set to have a meeting late this afternoon to discuss the situation and see if we can't come to some kind of mutual agreement."

Zero wasn't sure he liked the subtle, uneasy vibes he was getting from Kaname about the impending meeting even though the pureblood had told him some time ago that such an event was quite possible. The hunter had to admit he was a little surprised that it had come up so abruptly, but perhaps he shouldn't have been. He'd witnessed Kaname having to jet off to other countries at a moment's notice before, often returning the same day once his business was concluded, so Zero supposed it wasn't too odd that Orion's top muckety-mucks might behave in the same way.

"Okay, when do we need to be where?" Zero asked simply and Kaname looked a little relieved at his unspoken assurance that he was going to be present, even though they'd already agreed on all that some days ago.

"The Kuran building, around 4am. I have a few details I need to take care of first... can I meet you there at around 3:30? I want to go over a couple things with you before he arrives."

Zero nodded easily. "Sure, that's fine. What's the dress code? Do I need to go party-formal or is my normal gear okay?" Usually, Zero didn't ask questions like that and wore whatever he damn well pleased, knowing that Kaname would tell him if it wasn't appropriate, and he would then decide whether to heed or ignore him. He didn't think much of being a well turned out pureblood accessory, and Kaname never pressured him to be such. This was different though, Zero knew how important this meeting was and he didn't want to give Kaname any more stress than he was already dealing with, even if that meant making sure he was the model of a well appointed watchdog. For Kaname, he could be set dressing when needed as long as it meant he got to be in a position to protect him, whether or not Kaname thought he needed that protection.

Kaname's eyes said he understood the effort Zero was making on his behalf and he was grateful for it. "Better go with formal, but not _too_ formal. Just a suit should do nicely." He leaned in and gave Zero a quick peck on the lips. "Thanks... I appreciate this."

Zero grinned, giving him an affectionate punch to the shoulder. "You better," he teased. "I don't put on a suit for just anyone." Zero had had his fill of those back in high school.

Kaname smiled back, leaning closer to catch Zero's scent. "Ah, but it's the taking them off part that's fun..."

Zero gave him a light shove. "Yeah, yeah... save it for later," he said with a smile. "Thought you said you had to go take care of stuff?"

Kaname nodded with a theatrical sigh. "Unfortunately true. I'll see you in a little while then."

There was several hours yet before the meeting, and Zero intended to hang around here a little longer before going home to change. He had come here on his bike from the house while Kaname had come by car from the office, so they had to leave separately anyway. He gave Kaname a light, unexpected kiss on the cheek in parting which made the pureblood smile happily.

After Kaname was gone, Zero realized Aido and Kain had fallen silent and were watching him. He scowled at them a little and shrugged. "What? What are you staring at?"

"Nothing," Kain said with a smile, quickly taking interest in something on the long metal table in front of him.

"You and Kaname being all lovey-dovey," Aido answered honestly, with a slight smirk.

Zero thought Aido might be relying a little too heavily on his illness for protection today.

"Who's being lovey-dovey? Did I miss something interesting?" A new voice asked cheerfully, drawing all eyes back to the doorway as Takuma Ichijo let himself into the room. "Sorry, I knocked on the outer door but nobody answered. Kaname was on his way out and he let me in," he added by way of explaining his unannounced entrance.

"No, you haven't missed a thing," Zero answered, still frowning. "Just Aido trying to get himself killed as usual."

"Hey!" Aido protested. "And you _knocked_? There's a buzzer for that you know..." he added, the latter directed at Takuma.

Takuma blinked. "There is? I didn't see one."

Aido shrugged. "Of course not, it's hidden. This lab contains highly sensitive research material, you don't think I'd make it _easy _to get in, do you?"

Zero wasn't quite sure he could wrap his mind around the astounding idiocy of that notion.

Kain just smiled wryly, not giving away his cousin's secrets. He knew quiet well that hidden buzzer was more Aido's idea of a joke rather than an actual way to gain attention or entrance to the building. Kain knew where it was, and he always used it just to let Aido _know_ he knew where it was, but Aido actually relied on sensor alarms and video surveillance to alert him to visitors and control access to the building. The entrance was bio-coded to let certain people in and out without requesting authorization. Of course, in this case "certain people" pretty much just meant Aido and Kaname, whom Aido would never have kept waiting on his doorstep.

No doubt the sensors hadn't gone off for Takuma's arrival because they had already deactivated momentarily due to Kaname's exit. Kain supposed he ought to mention that security loophole to his cousin at some point, although he rather hated to feed Aido's continued notion that he was James Bond and Q rolled into one. After all, it wasn't like there was much danger of anyone actually bothering with an attempt to compromise Aido's ridiculously obsessive security, was there?

Takuma's eyebrows went up, but he obviously chose not to comment on Aido's oddness. "Ooookay, got it. So... what's the verdict? Should I start writing my will now, or am I probably okay?" The young noble made light of the situation as was his way.

Kaname had contacted him earlier in the day and told him about the current state of affairs, at least as far as Aido and the virus were concerned. Aside from each other, Takuma was the only person whom both Zero and Kaname had bitten since they might have been infected. If they had been carrying the virus, that meant that it would have passed to him, and from him to Shiki. Takuma alone was aware of who else Shiki might then have passed it on to, but of course that was a private matter which was nobody else's business.

Kaname had suggested that pending his and Zero's results, Takuma also might need to be tested, which was why he was here.

"Kaname and Zero were clear," Aido replied a little more seriously now. "So the likelihood that you have anything to worry about is pretty much non-existent. Still, I should run the test just to be sure." Kaname was a pureblood, Zero was an ex-human and Takuma was a noble. Biologically, they were all different from one another and Aido knew he should check all samples to be sure he'd not missed anything. He was still a little anxious about the difficulty he'd had getting any kind of accurate, measurable reading from Kaname's blood, lacking any baseline comparisons. If both Zero _and _Takuma were clear, then it just confirmed all the more that Kaname was clear too. Not that Aido doubted his previous conclusions, but this was Kaname they were talking about, and only 200% certainty would do as far as the young aristocrat was concerned.

"All right," Takuma agreed easily. Kain led him over to the table and directed him to roll up his sleeve. The red-head could see that Aido, despite his pretences, was exhausted, so he took over getting the necessary blood sample.

Takuma looked fascinated by the procedure as Kain drew his blood through the hollow needle into a small vacuum sealed vial. The un-oxygenated blood was dark and purplish as it quickly filled the tube.

"You see this in movies," Takuma commented as Kain finished up and removed the needle. The green eyed blonde touched his arm where the needle mark was already disappearing. "But it's strange how it feels. Or rather the _lack _of feeling, I suppose." For a vampire, it was extremely odd to have one's blood drawn and have it affect absolutely no feeling or emotion within them whatsoever. Bleeding was one thing, but having it actually sucked out of you by an artificial apparatus was another. It was almost kinky, except for the complete void of expected sensation.

"I know, it's like kissing with numb lips," Kain agreed.

"Or sex with no sensation," Aido concurred wryly. "It's just wrong somehow." He'd been doing this a lot lately, but that didn't make it seem any less weird to him either.

Zero felt mildly amused. He'd had shots and blood tests and all the normal human things when he was a kid, and although he himself had always been in good health, he'd been present as Ichiru went through test after test, having a lot of blood drawn in the process. It seemed funny to him that these three grown men were standing around marveling over the weirdness of something so mundane.

Takuma rolled his sleeve down and Aido took the sample from Kain. Zero tensed as he saw Aido start to waver again. Kain was closest this time and he caught his cousin. Aido folded too easily against him, not even fighting this time. The young scientist looked utterly drained. With Kaname no longer around to see his weakness, he closed his eyes, one hand resting on Kain's broad chest, letting his cousin support him for a moment. _Crap, this was really irritating and embarrassing._

It hurt Zero to see his friend looking so drawn. He wished that he could just make him better. This whole situation sucked.

"Okay, that's it," Kain said firmly, taking the tube of blood back from Aido and carefully placing it in an empty centrifuge rack on the table so it wouldn't roll away. "You are going to sit down and rest or I'm going to sit _on _you. Ichijo," his gaze shifted to the other noble. "Your blood only needs to be tested for the sake of thoroughness. You don't mind if Hanabusa does that later, after he's had a chance to rest a little?" The red-head's tone was friendly, but it suggested quite clearly that Takuma better _not_ have a problem with that. Aido wasn't well and he'd been running tests on Kaname and Zero's blood for hours. He needed a break.

Naturally, Takuma _didn't _have a problem with that at all and shook his head quickly. "Of course. Whenever is fine. Don't even worry about it." The young noble looked seriously disturbed and concerned at witnessing Aido's unusual frailty. He'd not seen what the other blonde had been going through like Zero and Kain had. This was his first real glimpse of the fact that all was not well and it obviously shook him.

Aido looked like he was about to protest for a moment, then seemed to think better of it. "Okay, just for a little while though," he mumbled to Kain, trying to look put out at being bossed around. "Hey Akatsuki... you know... about that blood you mentioned..." he added faintly.

"Yeah, yeah. I should have known you would take advantage of me," Kain teased gently. "Let's go get you taken care of, huh?"

Zero and Takuma both took this as his cue to leave the cousins to themselves.

"Well, I'll be going then. If you need anything, call me," Takuma said, still looking concerned. "And seriously, don't worry about that test until whenever you feel up to it. Just... feel better, okay?"

Aido smiled wanly. He didn't like being an object of pity, but he knew that Takuma meant well. "Thanks."

Takuma seemed to feel as if he should do or say something else, but he didn't know what and there was a slightly awkward pause. Zero came to his aid. "I'll walk out with you," the hunter kept the conversation moving. "I should go too. I have to change for my meeting with Kaname." Zero turned back to Kain and Aido. "Kain, you keep an eye on him. _Do_ sit on him if you have to. Hanabusa, stay out of trouble." He smirked and Aido stuck his tongue out at him. Somehow, Zero knew this was what Aido wanted. To be treated normal. To pretend that none of this was happening.

"If that's possible," Takuma chimed in with a cheery smile and a wave, taking his cue from Zero as he headed towards the exit.

"Oh, go on and get out of here," Aido called after them, pretending to be cranky although he wasn't. "And next time, use the buzzer!"

"I swear, there really wasn't a buzzer you know. Take a look when we get outside," Takuma said as he and Zero wound their way down the long passage that led towards the building's front entrance.

Both vampires paused to check when they got outside and sure enough, nothing that looked like a doorbell or any kind of buzzer was in evidence around the entrance. Zero snorted. "Aido and his super secret spy buzzer," he chuckled, shaking his head. "I bet he records his phone calls too."

The hunter reached in his pocket and drew out the keys for his motorcycle. Aside from his bike, the parking lot was deserted except for Takuma, Aido and Kain's cars. Takuma had parked next to Zero's cycle and they walked towards the vehicles together.

"So... you have a meeting with Kaname? Where are you going? Somewhere fun?" Takuma inquired with a smile.

Zero realized he had rather made it sound as if he was meeting _with _Kaname, not _attending_ a meeting with him. "Not hardly I'm afraid. It's a business thing," he explained. "I get to be his shiny toy bodyguard." The young hunter rolled his eyes, although the fact that he was talking about it in this manner said that he didn't really mind.

"Oh," Takuma said with understanding and a hint of wry sympathy. "I see. Is it about that oil deal he's working on? Or shouldn't I ask?" He gave a friendly smile as he unlocked his car. He and Kaname were still closely knit in many of their dealings, but they were both the head of two different major corporations and Takuma knew when to be discrete.

Zero knew Kaname had been talking to Takuma about the deal just this morning, so he didn't feel the need to be _too _secretive. He nodded. "Yeah. We're meeting with the head of Orion... ah..." Zero had meant to follow up with the name of the person they were meeting with, but instead he trailed off a bit awkwardly and blinked, suddenly realizing he was drawing a blank. He knew a lot about Orion and its dealings as they related to the Mission Oil situation thanks to the work he'd been doing with Kaname, but Kaname had never really spoken to him about the head of the company as a _person_ and Zero realized with a start that he wasn't even sure he even knew the man's name. He felt sure Kaname must have mentioned it at some point and he was just forgetting now, but if so, Kaname certainly hadn't mentioned it often. Weird, considering how personal the contest between the two business rivals seemed to be.

"The head of Orion... you mean Nasser Ardon?" Takuma supplied when Zero paused, helpfully filling in the blank. "Now, _there's_ a name I haven't heard in a while."

The name didn't really ring a bell, but Takuma seemed pretty sure so Zero guess it was the right person. "Yes, that's him. Why, do you know the creep?"

Takuma chuckled at Zero's candor. "I wouldn't say that exactly, but I have met him. Ardon-sama was a guest in my grandfather's house for a little while when Kaname and I were both boys, and I daresay Kaname knew him before that as well, at least as passing acquaintances."

For some reason, Zero suddenly felt uneasy. Kaname knew this Nasser Ardon person, apparently. Had known him for years and possibly had history with him that could have influenced the type of wager they had made over the Mission Oil deal. Yet Kaname hadn't felt that that was something Zero ought to know about? Whenever Kaname started hiding things from him, it put Zero's teeth on edge and kicked off his warning radar. Maybe it shouldn't, maybe he should get better accustomed to his lover's apparent need to wrap himself in mystery and secrecy, but it was hard for Zero. He didn't like it. It was one of those few things about Kaname that could still truly irritate him.

Something else that Takuma had said also quickly caught Zero's attention. "Wait... Ardon-_sama_? This jerk's a pureblood?"

Again, Takuma fixed him with a wry smile over his choice of language, looking slightly surprised. He leaned his hips back against the door of his Bentley, facing Zero. "Yes, a very, very old pureblood as I understand it. Not that you could tell by looking at him of course. You didn't know?"

Zero shook his head. "Guess Kaname's had too many other things on his mind lately to be filling me in on personal biographies," he said, just managing to keep any acidic note out of his tone. He was actually trying to convince himself of exactly what he'd said. Kaname _had _been busy and incredibly stressed the past week or two. If his lover didn't consider his past interactions with this other vampire pertinent to the current situation, he may have simply neglected to mention it around all the other troublesome things that had been happening. Certainly, as the Kuran heir apparent, Kaname had probably made passing acquaintanceships with a large number of the vampire elite during his childhood. Zero didn't expect his lover to bore him with details about all of them, did he? Put that way, it made sense... but for some reason, Zero still wasn't happy.

"Oh, well, there's not much to tell really," Takuma said with a shrug, happy to be helpful. "He has a reputation for being pretty ruthless, although he was actually fairly nice when he stayed with us. But you know..." Takuma gave Zero a wry look. "He was _vampire _nice, meaning I think he had an agenda. It most likely had to do with whatever was going on with his and Grandfather's business dealings I suppose."

"Why do you say that?" Zero inquired, curious despite the apparently mundane reality of the matter. He rested one hand absently on the closest grip of his motorcycle handlebars, keys jingling faintly in his other hand.

"Well, because he was almost overly attentive to me, you know? Like maybe he was trying to butter Grandfather up or something, although heaven knows why a pureblood would have wanted to do something like that." Takuma gave another little shrug. "I thought he was a trifle rude to Kaname, honestly. It was quite shocking to me at that age, but it's a pureblood thing I think. They rarely trust each other."

"Yeah, I noticed," Zero agreed a bit sardonically. "Just one big happy family they are."

"Exactly," Takuma grinned. "But I didn't fully get all that back then. We were just a couple of kids, or at least, I was. I sometimes felt like Kaname was never a child," he added with a chuckle.

Zero couldn't help smiling a little at that. Unfortunately, he found that all too easy to believe. Kaname had never had a proper childhood, after all. "Let me guess, he was organizing and running the playground since he was two," he joked.

Takuma laughed merrily. "Ah, no. From what I recall, that would better describe Aido, although he and I rarely played together when we were small. If you can believe it, Kaname was a very shy, gentle child before his parents died. Leading wasn't actually much in his nature back then. He always let me choose what to play and gave his toys away easily. You did find yourself wanting to do whatever he wanted to do... but not because he made you, just because... you _wanted _to." A fond but sad look flittered across Takuma's face. "Sometimes after he left, the adults would talk and say how he wasn't like a pureblood at all, too kind and eager to please, what was the Kuran blood coming to, and rot like that. I thought they were stupid." Takuma sighed. "He was... well, he was my best friend. Of course, everything changed after his parents died. It was a different boy who came to live with us," he admitted. "Almost a stranger."

Takuma gave Zero a rueful look and shifted his keys to his other hand. He found it very easy to talk to the ex-human and he ended up talking perhaps a little too freely. "I'm sorry, I'm rambling on and on and boring you."

Zero was anything but bored. He was intensely interested in this glimpse into Kaname's past. Kaname didn't talk about himself. He answered direct questions, but he never just sat around and reminisced. For that matter, neither did Zero. Perhaps they both had too much pain in their pasts for that, but the hunter found it really interesting to get this tiny window into his lover's childhood, which was a topic he really knew very little about.

"No, no," he quickly shook his head. "Not at all. I kind of like hearing about him when he was young. We don't... we don't talk about things like that, really," he admitted. Zero also often found himself speaking more freely to Takuma than he would have almost anyone else, especially when it came to the delicate subject matter of his lover and their relationship. The young noble was very natural and straight-forward when speaking about his pureblood leader and Zero liked that.

Takuma was just about the only person with whom he _could_ hold a normal conversation about Kaname, actually. The other two people to whom the hunter was closest were Aido and Yagari. They were very good friends and he could talk to them about many things... except his lover. With both of those two, the topic of a certain brunette pureblood was to be avoided, albeit for almost completely opposite reasons.

Takuma's smile turned gentle, a hint of romantic whimsy in his lively eyes. "I understand, Shiki doesn't like to talk about his childhood either and a lot of Kaname's wasn't so good I'm afraid. I know he was never happy in our house, despite my wishing otherwise. But you really should try to get him to talk about before that. I'm sure he has a lot of cute memories too. He and Yuki were nigh inseparable from what I hear. He'd tote that little baby around everywhere..." Takuma abruptly trailed off, shooting Zero an apologetic look. "Oh. Or... or maybe not. I'm sorry, Zero."

Zero shook his head, his eyes soft. His throat ached a little, but it surprised him how well he could deal with thinking of her now. A number of years had passed now, and that helped. Time couldn't erase, but it could dull and it could heal to a certain extent. "Don't be. I think it's sweet to imagine them like that." Zero wished he could have seen it. He could just imagine serious little Kaname toting around an adorable, thumb-sucking little Yuki.

Sometimes he wished he could turn back the clock, could take back all the times he'd locked himself in his room when Kaname came to visit so he had more memories of those two interacting. Sometimes he wished he could go back and erase all the tension and enmity between them so he would have had more years to enjoy what would become the two most important people in his life before one of them was gone forever. But wishes were just that, wishes. It could not be, and it was a cautionary tale to Zero, a warning for him to try to never let the past hurt so much that it interfered with the present. Because the present was fleeting and someday it too would be the past, lost beyond recall.

"Maybe I will ask him, sometime," Zero murmured. "I don't know if he'll tell me though. Kaname's still very... tender... on the subject of Yuki." The fact that Zero could even say that, could admit it to anyone much less do so without feeling the urge to cry said that he himself had made considerable progress in his own grieving process over the years. That pain no longer had the ability to destroy him. He was happy, he was loved and in love, and he could hold onto that.

Takuma seemed to read that truth in Zero's eyes and he looked pleased, although his gaze was still gentle. "Give him time, Zero. And remember that for a vampire, time can be a funny thing. For you four or five years is a long time, but for Kaname it's the blink of an eye, a mere drop in the bucket of immortality." Takuma cocked his head to the side and seemed to intentionally shake off the more somber topics they had accidentally drifted into. "Well, I don't know how we ended up here, but I was telling you about Nasser Ardon-sama, wasn't I?"

Zero nodded, also glad for the change of tone and topic. "Yes, you said he and Kaname didn't get along?"

"Well, no, I wouldn't put it like that really," Takuma said thoughtfully. "He certainly hung around Kaname enough and was always telling him how to do things. I thought maybe that's why Kaname seemed upset with him sometimes, he probably wasn't used to being bossed." Takuma chuckled. "To be honest I think we both kind of had crushes on him."

Zero's eyebrows shot up into his hairline and he nearly dropped his keys.

"Well, okay, _I _did," Takuma amended quickly. "But remember, I already knew I was into boys. I wasn't a late bloomer like you two. I don't know about Kaname, he was pretty straight back then. Maybe I just read my own feelings into him." Takuma shrugged, trying to think back and suddenly realizing he wasn't sure exactly why he'd thought that Kaname might have been interested in Nasser too. Kaname had been pretty stand-offish with everyone in that regard, and understandably so what with the entire female vampire population trying to throw themselves at him since the moment he reached sexual maturity at the uncomfortably early age of eight or nine.

At that point in time, Kaname had always only had eyes for Yuki. _So what had given him that impression about Kaname and Nasser? _Suddenly, Takuma couldn't remember. It was like there was a blank spot there if he tried to peer too deeply into the past. He shrugged the discrepancy off easily, it had been a while ago after all and it wasn't important.

"Huh," Zero mused thoughtfully, embarrassed at how much he really didn't like the idea of Kaname having any kind of interest in this older pureblood creep.

"Zero, you're not jealous, are you?" Takuma teased, seeing his friend's expression. "You are! You _are_ jealous!" The noble seemed to think it was terribly cute and for a moment he reminded Zero way too much of Chairman Cross.

"Wha...? No way! I am not!" Zero denied quickly, although that only made him sound more guilty. His cheeks suddenly felt a little hot.

"Yes, you are," Takuma's smile was mischievous. "It's okay, that just means you love him. But seriously, I wouldn't worry. Kaname is one very smitten man. Even if there was anything way back when, which there probably wasn't, you know Kaname would never even look at anyone but you now-a-days."

"Yeah, I know," Zero mumbled, feeling really stupid, but able to be a little amused at his own foibles.

"Hey, Kaname may have the vampire world throwing themselves at him, but at least he doesn't have to get naked or make out with other people at photo shoots," Takuma said with a rueful sigh, obviously speaking of his own lover now.

Zero coughed, eyes widening slightly at the mental images that gave him. He gave Takuma a dry smile. "Uh... yeah, there's that, I guess." They both ended up laughing a little.

Zero glanced at his watch and swung a leg over his bike, pushing the key into the ignition. "I better go, don't want to be late."

"Oh, yes, you have to change into your 'shiny toy bodyguard' costume, right?" Takuma said with a laugh, recalling Zero's words earlier as he pulled open his car door. The blonde's smile suddenly widened as he realized that that sounded a lot more interesting and kinky than he'd intended.

Zero gave him a dirty look, apparently noticing the same thing. "Yeah. Something like that," he agreed dryly.

"Well, have fun then," Takuma bid him.

Zero tossed him a 'sure that'll happen' look and a two fingered salute before gunning the engine and zipping off out of the parking lot.


	15. Penetrate Your Mind

_A/N: *stands by the entrance to the fic handing out pitchforks to all the incoming readers.* Oh, trust me, you'll want these for stabbing Nasser with by the end of the chapter. ;) We're going to start finding out a lot of info and answers fairly quickly now in this chapter and the upcoming ones, at least as far as Kaname's past goes. As always, if some things don't make sense just yet, or it isn't clear why someone is acting the way they are, just hang in there, further explination is swiftly forthcoming in upcoming chapters. _

_Chapter title is a nod to the Sirenia song "My Mind's Eye" which is perfect for Nasser. Look it up, or you can find it over on my blog (homepage link on my bio). Individual review responses are in my forum, as usual. The link is on my bio page. _

**Chapter Fifteen: "Penetrate Your Mind"**

Kaname was waiting for Zero in his office when the hunter arrived. Instinctively, Zero glanced at his watch, but he wasn't late, he was actually a few minutes early. He felt a little queasy because he'd taken the anti-pheromone pills again as a continued precaution, but was learning to better control and hide the side-effects.

The pureblood gave his lover an appreciative smile, letting his gaze sweep up and down the boy's body to take in the nice black suit and white shirt Zero was wearing. He could see the faint bulge of Zero's shoulder holster under the suit coat. The outfit was simple and functional, but also formal and classy. It was exactly the right kind of attire for a pureblood's personal body guard, but it was the gorgeous way Zero filled the suit that made Kaname's eyes twinkle.

Kaname rose from his chair and stepped across to Zero. "Mmmm," he approved with a nod, drawing the sound out a little. Zero wasn't wearing a tie and the crisp white collar of his suit hung open, the top two buttons undone. It unintentionally showed off his neck in a way that made Kaname hot all over. Reluctantly, the pureblood's deft fingers slid to the top of the shirt and swiftly fastened the two buttons closed, adjusting the high collar easily into proper form so it covered all of Zero's neck except for the top portion.

Zero eyed him with amusement that could turn to irritation, although he wasn't letting it do so yet. "What, I'm not quite up to snuff? Sorry I didn't wear a tie..." he said sarcastically.

Kaname smiled a little, but his eyes were strangely serious. "No, you look _perfect_, Zero." The pureblood's hand rested on the hunter's chest, over his heart as he leaned in for a light kiss before straightening again. "It's just... the open collar, it exposes your neck," he said softly, honestly. "I _love _that. And usually it's fine. But in this particular setting, with the person we are about to meet, it would convey something about you, something about the way I see you and treat you... something that isn't true and I don't want to convey." Kaname seemed a little hesitant and embarrassed about the admission, but he held Zero's eyes with a sweet, earnest intensity. Considering who they were going to meet, Kaname was not about to make Zero vulnerable by allowing even a hint of subtle suggestion that he was kept handy for his "master's" needs, or that Kaname might in any way be interested in sharing. Kaname would kill and he would die before he let anyone touch Zero. Especially... well, especially Nasser Ardon.

Zero was surprised and he felt his face warm as he quickly started thinking of all the things that Kaname might be trying to not imply about their relationship. It wasn't hard, he understood enough about vampire culture by now to catch the unspoken implications. He struggled with and repressed a flash of anger. He knew that if he expressed it at this moment it would seem to be directed at Kaname, which it wasn't. He was certainly not upset with his lover for wanting to protect him, but rather with the culture in general for its constant assumptions about what could and couldn't possibly exist between those as vastly separated by social stature and blood purity as he and Kaname.

Instead he gave a wry grimace. "Oh," he said simply. "Um, thanks." He quickly checked the button on his collar, giving a little tug to be sure it was done up as much as possible. Kaname chuckled at that and Zero gave him a look. "Don't tell me you've been letting me run around giving that impression to other people all this time without saying anything..." the hunter growled softly.

Kaname quickly shook his head. "No, Zero. Of course not. Times and fashions change, most vampires place no importance at all on such nuances in this day and age. But Nasser Ardon is an old blood. He has been around for a very long time and people his age often tend to be more... well, more _old school_ if you will, about certain etiquette conventions. It could be that he would think nothing of it either, but..." Kaname gave a small shrug. "I'd simply rather not give him the chance to misconstrue anything." The pureblood was being more cautious than usual about everything to do with this meeting, and with good reason.

Zero nodded slowly, accepting and filing away what his lover told him. Kaname was still very close and it was Zero's turn to lean in and kiss him lightly. He understood. He was fully aware that everyone except their close friends already misconstrued his and Kaname's relationship in a variety of ways. He knew that it was actually essential that they do so, for both of their sakes. But he appreciated that Kaname was still trying to protect his honor and dignity in whatever little ways he could. It helped to remember moments like this when they were in mixed company and Kaname had his cold, aloof "society" face on.

"Why don't you give me a little background on this Ardon creep before he gets here?" Zero inquired casually but deliberately. "You said he's old? How old?" Zero wanted to see how much Kaname was going to volunteer about his past association with the other vampire.

Kaname's gaze dropped to Zero's collar again, although his expression didn't change. His fingers slid outward across Zero's chest, absently following the line of his pectoral muscles, as if trying to feel them through the suit and drawing some kind of reassurance from the contact. "Very old," he answered after a moment. "Very old and very powerful as a result. He's a dangerous opponent."

The pureblood's hand slid downward a little and his fingertips brushed lightly over the slight swell that the handle of the Bloody Rose created under Zero's jacket. He gave a small smile. He'd never really admitted it to Zero, but there was something terribly sexy about the hunter with his gun. Maybe it was the suggestive nature of it or maybe it was because Zero had always been waving it about and pointing it at him back during their early school days, so the weapon had become inextricably linked to Zero in his mind.

"Actually," his gaze shifted back up towards the hunter again, something in his eyes seeming to express a certain level of determination. "That's why I wanted you to come early. There is a little history you should know before we get into the meeting."

Zero felt a certain sense of relief in the pit of his stomach. Of course Kaname was going to tell him, no doubt the aggravating pureblood had just been waiting until he deemed it necessary. Kaname could be like that sometimes. He was big on "need to know", it was almost a habit for him it seemed.

"Okay, I'm listening." Zero sat on the edge of Kaname's desk as he often did and Kaname resisted a smile despite the incredible tenseness churning uneasily inside of him. For some reason his lover seemed to have an aversion to sitting on mundane things like chairs.

Kaname plucked a folder from the other side of his desk and handed it to Zero. The hunter opened it to see that it contained a photo, vital statistics and a thick bio on the vampire which they were discussing. Zero frowned at the photo before scanning briefly through the rest of the information. A lot of it was surface level information about Ardon and his activities over the years, but he noted enough hard to obtain detail in there to make it obvious that Kaname had had people watching the other pureblood and keeping tabs on him for years now. This was probably only the summary of a much larger and more detailed file kept somewhere else.

"Nasser Ardon is a pureblood," Kaname summarized, trying to get up the courage to fill Zero in on the things that were not included in that file. Not... not _everything_. No. Now was not the time nor place and he didn't have _that _much courage. But Zero needed to know some of it. Nasser might say or do things in the meeting which would raise uncomfortable questions between he and Zero if Kaname didn't lay some groundwork first. Besides, with an opponent as dangerous as Nasser, you needed every advantage you could have, and knowledge was power. Kaname did not want to leave Zero unprepared.

"His syndeo is huge and encompasses a number of countries in the upper Mediterranean basin and Northern Eurasian continent. He secured the largest portion of this territory back during the time of the vampire wars. He agreed to abide by the eventual treaty brokered by my ancestors, which ended the wars, but he has continued to expand his empire by subtle means ever since, slowly swallowing up lesser, noble-run syndeos which border his territories. As business and commerce began to replace armed conquest as the new form of obtaining more power, he founded Orion and grew it into what it is today. Perhaps because of the heavy concentration of pureblood controlled territory in this part of the world and the fact that this is also where the Council of Elders hold their seats, he's never tried to extend his reach very far in this direction. As such, he and I have not come across one another very often."

Kaname paused in his story for a moment, fiddling with something on his desk before continuing. "We have, however, taken opposite sides on a business matter once before. It was nothing that bears any importance today, although at the time it was significant to me. There was a new bio tech company who was looking at different locations to establish their facilities. Due to the nature of their interests and the patents they held, they could have been quite beneficial in the research and development of the next generation of blood tablets. This was around ten years ago and at that time the pills were only in their nascent stages. They worked well enough for purebloods, but few purebloods wanted to take them except as snacks in cases where when they didn't want to change anyone and they had none of their ex-humans around. We needed to adapt a version of the pills to be more compatible with the noble and common classes in order to hope for any real chance of wide-spread adoption."

Zero nodded slowly. He knew that purebloods, noble and common vampires still took different versions of the pills which were better suited to each classes' needs, and that they were still a fairly recent development in the scheme of things. He did the math in his head - ten years ago was before he first met Kaname and before he'd been turned. "That was before Cross Academy was founded."

"Yes," Kaname nodded. "Chairman Cross and I were already planning its creation at that time. The school was his dream and it also suited my goals, so I supported him. I always intended for one of the Night Class's functions to be as an advanced research and development testing ground for the next generation of blood tablets for the masses. He and I both knew that that _had_ to happen before co-existence would ever truly be possible. My presence at the school enabled us to fill the Night Class full of noble vampires from the most prominent families in the country. Not only did we get clever minds like Aido's to work with the actual development process, we also had a chance to mandate that all students at the school must use the new tablets once they were developed. The idea was that they would have a chance to see the future that the ideals taught at the school and the pills could create and would take that back to families, and eventually out into the rest of the population." Kaname realized he'd probably never actually told Zero some of this, although the Chairman might have.

"And it worked, too," Zero said quietly, his thoughts turning a bit distant for a moment as memories fleeted through his mind- some good, some bad, most of them bittersweet. What had begun at the school had spread out into the rest of the world and there were a fair amount of vampires taking the blood tablets now. Co-existence was still a dream, but it was gaining support and a foothold in vampire society.

"Anyway, that's all rather beside the point," Kaname continued with a wave of his hand. "But the reason I mention it is because ten years ago we didn't have the Night Class in place yet, it was all still slowly coming together, and I was trying to find resources that could aid in our goals. It was difficult because I was living with the Ichijos and Asato did not like it much when I tried to manage my business affairs myself, he preferred to "take care" of all that for me. Naturally, he would not have supported my co-existence activities. That's why it was perfect that all of that could be funneled through Cross. Asato didn't know I helped fund the school, but he couldn't very well stop me from going when I decided I wanted to attend. By that point, I was getting too old for him to control any longer without people starting to talk.

"But that wasn't yet the case at the time I met Nasser. I was still very much under Asato Ichijo's thumb then. Because of his connections with the Council, he could have had me declared insane and locked up if I truly tried to cross him, so I had to be careful. Still, he couldn't completely stop me from taking an interest in the affairs of my family's business concerns. So when I found out that one of the locations that the bio tech company was considering was actually near where the Academy was going to be, I tried to encourage them to choose that location through various financial and industrial incentives." Kaname sighed slightly and took a seat in his chair.

"This was when I first met Nasser Ardon. You see, one of the other locations the company was considering was in _his _territory, and he was doing the same thing I was to try and convince them to invest there. It wasn't anything terribly important to him, just one of the many ways Orion continued to consolidate its power and acquire more wealth. He wasn't even personally involved in the situation until he found out that I was. Then things became... sticky." Kaname's eyes were lost in thought and Zero noticed a certain amount of discomfort in his lover's body language. Kaname didn't really like going over this old ground, apparently.

"I should have known better," Kaname's voice was quiet and there was a bit of a hard edge to it now. "But I didn't. I was too young and inexperienced to realize that by continuing to pursue the matter once I knew that Nasser was also interested I was challenging him, making it a personal contest between the two of us. I... had a lot to learn about pureblood politics yet at that stage." The young vampire gave a self-deprecating grin which held no mirth and Zero felt somehow uneasy.

"Well you were only what, twelve? Thirteen?" Zero said wryly and with a little bit of incredulity. "I think you can be forgiven for not being the amazingly cunning and ruthless master at everything that you are now," he teased.

Kaname smiled vaguely, but it didn't come close to reaching his eyes. Zero had no idea how much his naiveté and inexperience had cost him, but then, it was better that way. "I suppose," he said simply, although somehow Zero didn't feel that his lover really agreed with him on that. "In any case, I initially underestimated his interest in the matter, and then I made the mistake of thinking I could actually beat him at the contest. There were many things which gave me good reason to think that, but I wasn't seeing far enough ahead and looking at the big picture. I didn't see that he had already manipulated much of the situation to where it would instill a false confidence in his opponent and prompt me to play a weak hand."

There was a flicker of grudging respect in the pureblood's dark, curiously blank eyes. He had to admit when a game was masterfully played, even if he hated the other player. It was in fact that experience which had contributed largely to his ability to best Shizuka years later. Kaname had learned the importance of trying to foresee every possible move in play on the board. He had learned how to play living chess and how to dominate, before someone else got there first. Because the consequences of being shortsighted or unprepared could be devastating

"I was young and it was hard for me, having so little control over my own life. I didn't want to easily admit defeat in the matter when this was one of the few instances where I'd risked crossing Asato in the first place. So I committed fully to the game. More fully than I should have."

_"You're so sure of yourself, little one. If you're that confident, maybe we should make a friendly little wager?" Nasser's tone was light, almost playful. He acted like he didn't take Kaname seriously and that made the young boy simmer, although he knew better than to show it. _

_"After all," Nasser continued, "Who wouldn't bet on a sure thing? ... You do think it's a sure thing, don't you? Or is that a note of doubt I detect creeping in?" The mocking condescension in his gaze was clear. Kaname hated the way the older man made him feel stupid and childish. _

_The younger pureblood shrugged as if he didn't care. "Why, what did you have in mind?" _

_"Oh nothing much, I know you aren't really in control of any of your family's assets right now after all," the dig was smooth and well placed. "But how about this? If you win, I'll give you something you want. I'll give you my word that if you actually manage to create a viable blood substitute for the lower classes, I'll mandate that every vampire in my syndeo has to take them. I'm sure that would give your cute little cause quite a jump start, wouldn't it? Not to mention creating a demand for your product which would make you billions overnight. That's a pretty nice prize, don't you think? But don't worry, since I know your current circumstances, should I win I would lay claim a much less expansive and easier to grant prize. How about we say that I'll just get you?" _

_Nasser reached out and traced his finger lightly down the curve of Kaname's slender neck, making the younger pureblood frown and swat his hand away. The elder pureblood chuckled. "Kuran blood is sweet, they say." _

_As intended, Kaname assumed they were talking about Nasser getting his blood as the prize. Considering Nasser's skillful use of words and the fact that he lived with Asato's constant pressure for that very thing, it was naturally the first thought that jumped to his mind. It was a pretty weighty trophy Nasser was wanting, no matter how much he downplayed it. Purebloods did not allow other purebloods to drink from them unless they were _very_ close, usually lovers. The power it gave was significant, and Kaname knew well the superior value of the Kuran blood that flowed through him. He was surrounded by people who never let him forget it. _

_Leveled against what Nasser was offering, however, it was not an unreasonable wager. He didn't like it, but the stakes seemed to be worth the risk. Worst case scenario, he had suffer the humiliation of losing and giving Nasser his blood and he made the other pureblood even more powerful. Those were manageable damages, he reasoned. Nasser was not involved in the politics of Kaname's part of the world so his being more powerful should not interfere with the young pureblood's plans. Kaname had more to fear from the Council and his sadly un-dead Uncle. He took the gamble. _

Kaname knew now how stupid he had been, how completely he'd played into Nasser's game. Nasser had been very careful to spell out his side of the wager in terms of winning Kaname's submission without exact specifics, allowing the boy to make the assumptions that would eventually damn him. Kaname could still work up a positively glowing hatred for his stupid and much too innocent younger self, but what was done was done. At least he had learned from it, and he'd never made those mistakes again. Well... at least, until maybe now. Kaname repressed an inward shiver of illness at the possibility that he'd not learned as much as he should have back then.

There was something in Kaname's eyes and his expression that Zero didn't like at all. "How do you mean, _more fully_?" he inquired.

Kaname shook off the past quickly. "I mean... I let him goad me and pull me into a game in which I was not equipped to match him. I underestimated his ruthlessness. It's a long story and the details are unimportant, but during the course of events one of his subordinates also became involved in the situation. She was a noble woman, a... mistress, I suppose you could say, whom he had reportedly been fond of for several centuries. I thought he would act a certain way because of that, that he would try to protect her, but he actually killed her when it seemed she was in the way. By that point I saw the trap he had laid, but it was much too late. Needless to say, I lost the contest and the fallout was not pretty." Kaname summarized as much as possible, keeping it vague and letting Zero assume he meant the political fallout only.

"I want you to know all this, Zero, because it's quite possible that Nasser will try to pull on this past altercation of ours during our current meeting in order to unsettle me. But," Kaname's eyes were dark. "Times have changed."

Somehow, Zero was not comforted, especially since he almost got the feeling that Kaname was trying to convince _himself_ of that fact. It was a little eerie to realize that the situation playing out now held a certain amount of similarity to the one that had occurred in the past. It also made sense why Kaname was extra jumpy about it. The pureblood did not handle failure well.

"Wait... so this jerk is the same jerk that you have to give your blood to if you lose this time, right?" Zero did not like the way Kaname's gaze slid away from him when he asked that question. He didn't like the way Kaname's body tensed up defensively either.

"Yes." The monosyllabic reply held no emotion. Kaname rose from his chair. "Perhaps you should read the file. He'll be here soon."

Zero held the file resting on one knee, but he was more interested in Kaname right now, and the things the pureblood still hadn't told him.

"Considering the history the two of you had as rivals, I guess it was pretty uncomfortable when he lived with you for a while. Or was that before this happened?" He floated the question calmly, looking for a reaction. He got one, but not the one he'd expected.

Kaname was unable to hide his surprised confusion. "He... what? I'm not sure what you mean. He visited once, but he didn't stay long." Yet even as he said it, conflicting sensations raced through the pureblood. Like fleeting wisps of smoke, something in what Zero said rang a bell, but then things quickly became muddy again. It was like trying to read a newspaper in a dream - you got an impression of it, but when you looked close it disappeared and there was nothing legible there.

Zero gave him a weird look. "Really? That wasn't the impression that I got. Takuma said Ardon stayed with his grandfather for a while when you were a kid and living with them. Some business thing with old Ichijo or whatever... are you saying he didn't?" The hunter was deeply puzzled and a little concerned by Kaname's unexpected reaction. He couldn't imagine that Takuma had lied to him about something like that and for no reason, but Kaname seemed so startled...

The pureblood blanched and almost paled. "No, I..." he shook his head. He was trying to hide his dismayed shock from Zero, trying to act normal again. It wasn't easy because he felt like the breath had been knocked out of him. Nasser had _stayed _with them? He remembered the other pureblood visiting the Ichijo house, but he thought he had come and gone in the same day, nothing that would have made Takuma say that he _stayed _with them. Why could he find no concrete recollection of such a thing anywhere in his memory, and yet it seemed suddenly so familiar that he could unconsciously accept it as fact? What had Nasser done to him? Or... what had _he _done to himself?

"...I just didn't remember it being more than a visit," he admitted, trying to smile although his eyes were still haunted. It was the truth, and it frightened Kaname more than he wanted to admit. _This wasn't right. He had had no idea he'd forgotten anything from __**that**__ period of time. Why had he? How was it possible? What _else_ might be missing from his mind and memories?_

Zero's eyes narrowed. "Kaname, stop bullshitting me. What's going on?"

"Truly, Zero, I just didn't remember, I must have been busy with other matters," Kaname said quietly, a strange tenseness in his voice. Zero found it hard to believe he was lying, but he didn't think he was telling the full truth either. "It's not a big deal, is it? Surely that can't have anything to do with now." Kaname looked at his watch. "I have a few things to take care of, you can read the file and I'll meet you back here in a few minutes."

"Kaname..." Zero's tone was warning. He knew Kaname just wanted to get away from his questions.

"Later, please Zero," Kaname implored. "I need to be focused on this meeting right now." Zero might have expected Kaname to brush him off, but the pureblood wasn't commanding, he was _asking_ Zero to let it go, almost _begging_ him.

Reluctantly, Zero did, for the moment. He didn't want to distract Kaname before something this important. "Okay, but later, Kaname, you are _going_ to level with me and tell me what it is you're _not _telling me about you and this Ardon creep. Got it?"

Something unreadable darted behind Kaname's eyes, but he just nodded, his controlled exterior taking over again. "Of course, Zero. I promise."

* * *

Zero shadowed Kaname unobtrusively into the large, wood paneled conference room, moving to stand quietly behind him as the pureblood took a seat at the long mahogany table. Zero had learned the right etiquette for playing bodyguard to his lover. Seiren had drilled it into him fiercely. It was she who had been raised to be Kaname's bodyguard, his "praetorian" as they were called, so if anyone else was to take her place at times, she was going to make damn sure they did their job. Zero resisted an eye roll at the fleeting memory. Like she had to worry. Protecting Kaname was one job he took very seriously, even if his position as a pseudo praetorian was mostly for show and to explain why he often traveled everywhere with the pureblood.

Zero knew that Kaname also rather enjoyed the rouge status of having a hunter as a bodyguard. It was incredibly un-politically correct of him of course, and polite society frowned deeply behind his back, but he was a Kuran and a pureblood - he could get away with a hell of a lot. Zero had to admit, it was amusing to watch how uncomfortable some vampires got around him because he was a hunter, a fact which Kaname could, and of course did, use to his advantage. Zero liked the fact that this role let him keep a certain amount of dignity and allowed him to be near Kaname without giving everyone the immediate impression that he was only there because he was the pureblood's favorite toy. Although after a few all day sessions when his sole job was standing behind Kaname's chair like a useless and invisible appendage he sometimes felt quite ready to let Seiren have her full time job back. But Kaname was worth it, and so Zero dealt with the tedium and learned how to keep up appearances.

The hunter's gaze shifting over towards the doorway as it opened again, giving entrance to the other member of this meeting. A dark haired man in a cream-colored Armani business suit, pale amaranth dress shirt and lightly tinted sunglasses entered, trailed by a bodyguard who had the look of a professional killer. Both were vampires.

Kaname rose politely to greet them with a charming smile plastered on his face. He acted like this was any other meeting, any normal business day in the year, although of course Zero knew better. He hated the strain this whole situation was placing on his lover. He decided that after this mess was all over, he was going to force Kaname to take a vacation, preferably somewhere that got no cell phone reception. Sometimes he swore he was going to kill whoever invented those damn little headsets that you could leave plastered to your ear at all times. A number of Kaname's had already met with bad ends at Zero's hands, usually after the pureblood had forgotten to take the device off when they were in bed, but Kaname just kept buying new ones.

Zero's hunter senses tingled a distinct warning down his spine as the two newcomers entered and his gaze zeroed in on the man in the cream suit. He was tall, half a head taller than Kaname and somehow subtly imposing. His wavy hair was pulled back in a loose, stylish ponytail at the nape of his neck and fell nearly to the middle of his back. He was well built and obviously very fit.

Purebloods could adapt to fit in whenever they were, often taking on the physical characteristics of the humans around them wherever they chose to call home. Vampires were, after all, predators in human skin. Their beautiful forms were meant to make them camouflage and enable easy hunting. There was something exotic about this particular vampire's features, as if over the long years of his life he'd adopted traits from all over the world and blended the most appealing ones together into a visage that would make any professional model weep in envy.

He had high cheekbones and large, almond colored eyes. His naturally somewhat tanned skin may have been a few shades paler than normal for humans sharing his Mediterranean origins, but it was gracefully bronzed enough to almost belie his vampire heritage at first glance. However, the cool, dark, watchful gaze behind his sunglasses would put any doubts immediately to rest on that score. His features were smooth, aquiline and timeless, giving little indication of any distinct age. Like Kaname, he was breathtakingly beautiful and innately graceful, although he seemed somehow indefinably older.

In a grudging, analytical kind of way, Zero could well imagine why Takuma might have been attracted to this man. Zero himself was more apt to notice a pretty female and had still never felt attraction towards any man besides Kaname, but he wasn't blind. Nor did he like recalling Takuma's words about Kaname's possible former interest, in light of what he was seeing in front of him. _No, now is not the time to start feeling jealous. Concentrate. _

Nasser Ardon flicked off his lightly tinted shades and slid them into a pocket. They looked more like a fashion accessory than anything else, but Zero knew that sometimes vampires became increasingly keen sighted and therefore increasingly photosensitive as they aged, so who knew?

Nasser's gaze skated very briefly over Zero before dismissing him in favor of landing and remaining on Kaname. Zero was used to being summarily ignored in that manner, but the weight of Nasser's gaze in the brief heartbeat when it had held him had felt like a bucket of ice washing over him. His hunter senses prickled in warning, automatically assessing the threat level of this vampire as very high. Maybe Kaname's jumpiness had just rubbed off on him, but something about this character gave him a bad feeling. Well... okay, most vampires gave him a bad feeling, but in this case a worse-than-usual bad feeling.

Nasser was intentionally letting a faint, but palpable buzz of his own energy surround him. Not enough for other purebloods to notice, but enough to give humans, ex-humans and even some nobles a faint, indefinable feeling of dread. It was one of those arrogant habits that high level vampires practiced on occasion, a subtle way of asserting their dominance over everyone below them in the vampire caste system. Frankly, it was quickly giving Zero a headache, but he refused to show it and struggled to keep an impassive face for Kaname's sake. Usually he would have glowered one of his best glares at the pureblood prick, but he knew how obsessively intent on having everything perfectly in order for this meeting Kaname was. Zero didn't want to add to his lover's already unusual stress levels, so he scaled back on the attitude for once. Besides, Nasser struck him as the type who would probably like knowing that he was affecting the ex-human, and Zero wasn't about to give him _that _little pleasure.

Kaname and Nasser both smiled charmingly, exchanging greetings and pleasantries that neither of them meant, verbally circling one another like powerful bull sharks, looking for weakness. It was a scene Zero had witnessed often enough to find it either boring or vaguely amusing. What was interesting here though, was that for once Kaname was not automatically the largest fish in the pond. Not that Kaname hadn't had difficult adversaries before, of course he had. It wasn't as if he _always _got his way. He simply got it often enough that it almost didn't matter. But with Nasser, Zero got the unsettling feeling that this was more than a battle of equals.

Ardon was not afraid of Kuran, nor did he seem to give a hoot about the younger vampire's family name. The Kuran bloodline may be the most powerful among purebloods, but vampires gained both power and experience as they aged and Kaname was very, _very_ young compared to Nasser. Kaname was very young for a vampire with his power and responsibility, _period_. In a society whose average lifespan was reckoned in centuries, the younger generations did not usually take over from their elders until much later in life. The orphaned pureblood was almost always dealing with others of his race who were over five times his age or more. That didn't usually make a difference, but somehow with Nasser... for the first time, Zero felt like maybe it did. And he didn't like that feeling one little bit.

Greetings over, both purebloods took a seat on opposite sides of the mahogany table. Nasser's bodyguard slid into place behind him, casting a cool glare towards Zero from behind Gucci sunglasses. Briefly, Zero wondered if the purebloods had spied on each other ahead of time to find out how many guards the other was bringing so as to respond in kind. Bringing less would signal vulnerability and overconfidence, bringing more would signal a _lack_ of confidence and that they felt threatened – which translated, again, to perceived vulnerability.

Zero had learned all these things by silent observation over the past few years. It was a deadly serious business, but it was also amusing really. It made him think of teenage girls spying on their rivals to make sure they didn't all show up to the dance dressed in outfits that were either too similar or too different. Appearances often meant everything. Zero had shared that analogy with Kaname once over dinner, which had resulted in a laughing fit that nearly made the pureblood choke on his wine.

Zero settled back on his heels to wait out the duration. Fidgeting would reflect badly on Kaname, and Zero would not give any damn blood sucker the satisfaction of being able to get one up on _his _blood sucker, not on his account. He silently folded his arms, letting his open coat pull just slightly away from the holstered hunter weapon at his side. Not aggressive, but passively warning. He may not be your typical bodyguard, and he may only play the role of the obedient servant in public, but he _would _protect this pureblood with his life. That part was _not_ an act.

Nasser folded his hands on the table, smiling across at Kaname. He flicked his eyes towards Zero. "So, this is your hunter protégé-slash-praetorian that everyone's abuzz about," he remarked conversationally. "You know, they think you seek to secretly control the Hunters Association and the execution lists. A good way to remove your rivals, eh?"

Zero had heard that rumor before. Kaname neither encouraged nor discouraged it. It was better to leave people guessing. The more they wondered and built up their own theories, the less they would suspect the much simpler and yet more dangerous truth of why he kept Zero so close to him.

Nasser, for his part, actually sounded vaguely like he approved of the idea of controlling the execution lists, or was at least amused by it.

Kaname smiled enigmatically and shrugged. "Perhaps," he said simply, eschewing further small talk. "Now, about this merger between Trifecta and Mission Oil... surely you realize that in all practicality, this cannot be allowed to happen."

Nasser chuckled. "Always business before pleasure with you Kaname, eh?" The elder pureblood reached casually across the table, his fingers brushing the back of Kaname's hand with a forwardness and implied familiarity that frankly surprised Zero. Even if Zero hadn't already known, it would have been obvious that this was not their first meeting. The hunter ruthlessly suppressed another small, unhelpful wave of jealousy. He did _not _like that freak touching Kaname and his eyes darkened slightly.

Kaname tensed, which surprised Zero again. Kaname was a master of control, especially in business situations. He never let anyone get under his skin enough to affect his body language, especially not so fast, with so simple a gesture. The hunter's eyes narrowed infinitesimally. He decided that he didn't like Nasser at all. Well, he'd already decided that, but now he really, _really _didn't like him.

Kaname's flesh crawled but he managed to not jerk his hand away, remaining outwardly calm and unaffected and not even glancing towards the other's fingers as they brushed his skin meaningfully. He was well aware what Nasser was doing and would _not _let the older pureblood play him like this. It was bad enough that he'd reacted at all and he silently cursed himself for that. He'd known Nasser would be this way, he'd thought he was prepared. It'd been so long, there was no reason on earth why the mere touch of the man's fingers should make him feel so violently ill.

"Taking the refineries away from An'swala will not only tank the local economy but introduce another destabilizing factor into an already unstable region," Kaname pressed on, struggling to ignore it as Nasser's fingers slid up over his thumb and towards his wrist, pausing to slowly trace his thudding pulse. He should pull his hand away, it wasn't natural to _not_ react to this continued contact... but it was too late now to do so without displaying the fact that Nasser's touch bothered him. If he was going to pull away and have it seem casual, he should have done so already.

"The complete collapse of An'swala will cause them to lash out at their neighbors, you can only back people so far into a corner before they turn vicious." A strange, squirming sensation was clawing at the back of Kaname's chest. He felt inexplicably trapped. Nasser's touch was far more damning than it should have been. He'd thought he was prepared for this... but he wasn't.

"Oh really... will they? How far into that corner do you think they'll let themselves be pushed first?" Nasser's voice was smooth and silky and somehow it didn't seem like he was talking about the same thing that Kaname was talking about at all.

"Not much farther," Kaname said stubbornly. He was fighting to keep his voice even and matter-of-fact, although he was good enough not to completely betray that fact. "Those people are desperate and they have increasingly little left to lose. Don't underestimate them." The young pureblood was struggling to keep stringing the words together. Something was really wrong. Nasser was doing something to him, beyond the mere physical contact, something Kaname had not expected and didn't understand. Heat was rising completely unbidden and unwanted in his core and in the dark back of his mind, there was a disturbing echo of the weeping child that haunted his dreams. The squirming sensation in his chest was almost suffocating.

Zero suddenly leaned forward. Reaching down around Kaname, he caught Nasser's wrist in a firm, polite grip, easing his hand away from Kaname's.

"I'll have to ask you to please stay on your side of the table, Mr. Ardon," he said in a flat, expressionless tone befitting his self-appointed role as slightly overzealous bodyguard. He didn't know what was happening, but he didn't like it. His hunter senses were going wild, telling him that Nasser was flexing his pureblood nature in some manner that wasn't easily discernable. And Kaname... Kaname was getting aroused, which bothered the _hell_ out of the hunter. It wasn't obvious, you certainly couldn't tell by looking at him, but Zero was intimately familiar with his lover and all the subtle changes of scent he gave off.

Kaname was surprised by Zero's interference. The gesture of protectiveness, while embarrassing, was a much needed lifeline and helped Kaname shake the crawling sensation clawing at him. Humiliation and gratitude warred a quick, unseen struggle inside of him, coming to a draw. The young pureblood recovered himself swiftly, remaining outwardly composed. He waved Zero off and gave Nasser a fake apologetic look.

"You must forgive Kiriyu, he's quite protective," he said as if this were somewhat bothersome but amusing, much the way one might comment about a pet bulldog who had barked out of turn.

Zero was used to this act in public. He knew to ignore Kaname's casual dismissal and sometimes near condescension when they were in front of others. It was a necessary evil. It was only an act, to protect them both, to hide from the world that which was most precious to Kaname and in so doing avoid painting a huge target on Zero's back. The hunter was aware how very, _very _violently Kaname hated having to play that role with him. It hurt his pureblood lover deeply. Still, when pressed, Kaname was a good actor and sometimes... okay, sometimes it _did _bother Zero. Sometimes it was harder than others to shrug off the softly mocking arrogance and graceful disdain, no matter how fake he knew it was and how much Kaname was doing it only to protect him.

However, this was definitely _not_ one of those times. The young hunter was far too busy hating Nasser with increasing vehemence to even notice what Kaname said. He'd never seen his lover this off-balance. It wouldn't have been noticeable to anyone else perhaps, but Zero knew him too well. Something here was _wrong. Very _wrong.

Nasser pulled his hand away from Zero with a smile that was a thinly veiled sneer of disdain. His eyes flashed silently for a moment as they looked up towards the silver haired ex-human before they slid back to Kaname again. They were hard, cold eyes and they looked at Zero like the hunter was an annoying mosquito who just might get swatted.

"You always did inspire that protective urge in people. I suppose that's a good thing, I imagine it helps keep you safe." The condescending, implied dig that Kaname _needed_ others to watch out for him because he wasn't strong enough on his own was barely even veiled. "You never change, Kaname," Nasser continued, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and wiping his hand off as if the ex-human's touch had soiled him. "Although I find it amusing that you think I should care what happens to An'swala, or that you can tell me what to do with my own assets."

"You also change little, it seems," Kaname replied coolly, completely ignoring the other's barb. Whatever had shaken him before seemed to be under control now and he was all cold, collected ruthlessness again. "If the An'swalans take it into their heads to make war on the neighbors who appear to be stealing their livelihood, it will have a negative effect on the whole region, including Trifecta's base of operations. I can't imagine that that would be good for your bottom line. And Mission Oil is _not _one of your assets in point of fact, or we would not be having this conversation. You can't claim something that is only half hours." A hint of satisfied, if prudently wary, smugness crept faintly into the younger pureblood's tone.

Nasser's smile was smooth now as he too glided back into business mode. "Ah, yes, quite an egregious oversight by my financial department, to be sure. You know how unreliable subordinates can be." He tilted his head, his eyes sparking with an odd light of interest and challenge. "So here we are, apparently stalemated. Neither of us can make a move without the other. This should prove... interesting."

The talking turned to a lot of complex wrangling and business terms that Zero tuned out on, but he continued to watch the two purebloods like a hawk. There was no spacing out and letting his mind wander today, not after what he'd seen happen before. Even if he'd wanted to, he couldn't have, because his hunter senses continued to jangle uneasily and relentlessly.

Despite outward appearances, it was taking all of Kaname's strength of will to maintain his cool, confident facade and keep his mind focused on the carefully formulated arguments and possibilities he was presenting. He was in favor of ending the conflict over Mission Oil by coming to some agreement that would give everyone what they wanted. The trick would be trying to get Nasser to bite. To be honest, he didn't hold out very high hopes on that, but it was a move that had to be played, and he had others to fall back on as necessary. That was all part of the plan, but the strange, inexplicable way he was feeling... that wasn't.

The pureblood was feeling increasingly dizzy... and the horrible part was that it wasn't the sick kind, it was the light headed, pleasurable kind. His body was burning with a strange, horrible sensation that could only be interpreted as intense sexual attraction to the pureblood across the table from him. That wasn't right. That was so wrong for so many reasons that Kaname couldn't even begin to count them. First and foremost because he had absolutely _no _desire for anyone other than Zero, and especially not for _this _man. Or did he? His body seemed to be telling a different story. He didn't understand. He was terribly confused and horribly ashamed.... and he couldn't afford to let either emotion show through.

With intense effort, Kaname controlled his body's outward readings in order to not telegraph what was happening to everyone in the room. He ruthlessly controlled and suppressed his temperature and even his body chemistry to mask or at least confuse his heat and scent readings which would be the most tell-tale giveaways. It was quite hard, but it could be done if you knew how. Kaname, king of masks, knew how. He wasn't sure if he was more worried about Nasser or Zero catching wind of the intense _problems _he was having. Either one would be a complete disaster. So he poured everything he had into the draining act and secretly longed for the meeting to be over.

Nasser, however, seemed in no hurry at all, and was quite content to discuss point after point with his younger companion, playing word games and arguing over every minutiae. If Kaname had not been so absorbed with his inner struggle, he might have realized that Nasser was intentionally dragging the encounter out.

Zero's headache was reaching near migraine proportions by now. Not only was Nasser flexing and buzzing his aura, now Kaname was too. A normal ex-human would have lost their cookies long ago, but the hunter continued forcing himself to tough it out. It was just pain, he could deal with that. Damn, but he wanted this meeting to end, though.

As time dragged on, the hunter stiffened slightly when he felt a different sensation begin to grip at the edges of his awareness. There was a somewhat familiar stirring him inside him and a faint, pleasurable dizziness mingled with the throbbing pain between his temples. He resisted the urge to blink against the strangely sensual buzz and remained impassive.

His eyes narrowed as he glared across the table at Nasser, whose whole attention was fixed on Kaname. The son of a bitch was flooding the room with pheromones. Zero knew, he recognized the symptoms because of his frequent exposure to Kaname's. He could tell that these were _not _Kaname's, however. He couldn't explain how he knew that, he just did. It was as if he was listening to the sweet hum of a tuning fork, but the pitch was _off _somehow. It was pleasurable, but it was striking him wrong because he was already strongly conditioned to reverberate only to Kaname's particular frequency.

Considering the fact that the pills he'd taken should have completely deadened his receptiveness to any pheromone induced input, the fact that he was even able to notice what Nasser was doing meant that the pureblood must be amplifying them like crazy. Unless this was normal for a pureblood as old as Ardon was. Zero didn't know, but either way he was one very unhappy camper. Nasser had probably been putting them out this entire time, but it had taken this long for them to finally begin to seep through the hunter protection Zero was using and become noticeable.

Zero had pretty much been ignoring Nasser's attendant for a while since, like him, the man hadn't moved a muscle for some time, but now he looked closely and realized that the aristocrat was more than motionless. Behind his dark, expensive shades his eyes were glassy and unblinking. He appeared to be completely stoned to the point of stupor due to the strong biological assault taking place. Zero thought it was pretty stupid of Nasser to incapacitate his own bodyguard, but then, he got the feeling that the noble was just for appearances and Nasser considered himself more than capable of taking care of himself in this gathering.

Kaname seemed to be weathering the storm all right, at least as far as Zero could tell around his own blinding headache and impeded senses. The pureblood's vitals seemed to be reading normally, maybe just a little elevated. He assumed Kaname knew what Nasser was doing and the other pureblood was wasting his time. He was used to Kaname being fairly invincible. Maybe he was too used to it.

By the time the meeting wrapped up almost two hours later, Zero wanted to pass out and Kaname was so drained from his constant efforts to hide whatever was so shamefully wrong with him that just getting up out of his chair felt like a monumental effort. He managed to do it seamlessly, of course, but he was badly physically and mentally drained. He wanted nothing more than to run home, lock himself in a closet until he got done hating himself being a completely unforgivable freak, and sleep for a week.

"Thank you for coming, I hope you'll consider what we've discussed," Kaname said coolly and automatically. By now he just really wanted Nasser to leave. The two of them had gotten exactly nowhere with the negotiations, much as he'd expected. He doubted Nasser really intended to strike a deal, the bastard just wanted to play with him.

"I might. I have to admit you make a good case, some of your points actually make a certain kind of sense," Nasser conceded carelessly, as if grading at student's debate team argument. "But I think the real problem here, is that our coming to an agreement about this would essentially nullify our bet, wouldn't it?" The older pureblood's smile was dark and his tone candid. "If there's no winner or loser, no one can collect. Quite honestly, I'm not sure I want that, I was so looking forward to enjoying that beautiful body of yours," his eyes raked Kaname's frame with unconcealed appetite. "You've matured so much in the past few years. And how about you? Are you so ready to give up on your poor dead little girlfriend and let her murder remain forever a mystery?"

Nasser reached out, lightly brushing Kaname's cheek with the back of his fingers. The contact had an electric effect upon Kaname's already beleaguered senses and he almost couldn't contain the warring jolts of disgust and excitement that shook through him.

He stepped back quickly, away from Nasser's hand. He knew he was betraying his discomfort by rejecting that touch, but he didn't care. He couldn't stand to feel that man on his skin, he feared he was going to lose control. Kaname's heart was thudding and he wanted to punch Nasser's face in. He wanted to tear his throat out. He wanted it so badly he could feel the burn throbbing in his fangs and in his claws. He was horrified that Nasser just said what he had in front of Zero. That was going to be impossible to cover up or explain away. Already, he could feel Zero's body temperature rising behind him, the hunter's aura darkening in fury and his heart rate increasing. _Crap... this could go very badly. _Zero was wonderful, but he usually made no real effort to fit into vampire society. He was making an incredible effort today for Kaname's sake, but the pureblood feared that if provoked he was going to do something ill-advised that would endanger both the hunter and their secret.

Zero's violet eyes had gone dark and stormy. Even with the mother of all headaches, he could hear just fine and what that pureblood son of a bitch had just said about Kaname... _**HIS**__ Kaname, _was quickly bringing his temper to a full boil. _Body?! _What Nasser had said was clear and the _way _he said it even clearer. He was _not_ talking about just getting Kaname's blood.

Nasser was not a fool, he could see Kaname's vulnerability in how quickly he retreated, he could sense the turmoil in him now bubbling just under the surface. He'd spent the last two hours intentionally wearing him down. He was well aware that the younger pureblood was exhausted and off-balance, although he was delightfully surprised at how unprepared for this encounter his opponent seemed to be. It was almost as if Kaname had no idea what he was doing.

"But of course, I am a business man first and foremost," Nasser continued, his voice dropping into a somehow smoother and more chocolaty tone. "Maybe we could find a way to work matters out to everyone's... satisfaction. Why don't we talk privately? We really don't need all this show, do we?" he gestured dismissively towards the two bodyguards and the conference room itself in general. "I'm sure we can come to an understanding."

Nasser clapped his hands once and gave a jerk of his head, at which signal his attendant collected himself enough to obediently turn and leave the room without a word. The pureblood glanced meaningfully towards Zero, as if waiting for Kaname to give a similar command.

Zero felt this had gone far enough. "Forget it!" he seethed harshly through his teeth. "No way I'm leaving him in here alone with..."

"Zero!" Kaname snapped harshly, cutting him off. He felt his color draining. This was bad, so bad... he understood how Zero felt, he appreciated and treasured it, but now was _not_ the time. The hunter was unintentionally making him look both weak and ineffectual, something he could not afford.

Nasser laughed, deeply, amused by all this. "Oh, my, Kaname... you seriously need to put this one back through obedience school." His cultured smile was hard and dark. He seemed delighted by the amazing little display of insubordination and Kaname's lack of control over his lap dog. "I knew you were soft, I didn't know you were _incapable_. I'd be glad to teach you how it's done if you're lacking the proper instruction..." he offered, still in that silky seductive tone which was now mingled with cruel mirth.

Zero was about half a step from making the smirking pureblood moron eat his own brains for breakfast. Or trying to, anyway. "Why don't you just -"

"ZERO!" Kaname's snapped command made the paneling on the walls shake slightly. "_Leave._ Now!" He felt horrible. He hated talking to Zero like this, but he had no choice. He was irritated that Zero didn't seem to realize the damage he was doing. Kaname knew this was his own fault, though. He knew how Zero was - his forthright independence was part of what he loved about him. If he had wanted to avoid this possibility, he should never have brought him to the meeting. He'd been weak, he'd wanted and needed Zero to be here, and now he was going to have to treat his lover very unjustly as a result. Life truly sucked sometimes. It was horrible and unfair, but right now he just needed Zero to get out of the room before he did or said anything else that either gave Nasser more ammunition against them or sparked an incident that would surely turn ugly.

If Nasser took it upon himself to try and teach Zero manners, Kaname would have to intervene, he would _never _let the other pureblood touch his lover. But it would be a fight he could ill afford, and given whatever the hell was wrong with him, coupled with his current exhaustion, one that might go badly.

Zero's eyes flashed wounded fire. His head hurt, he was sick and exhausted and he wasn't thinking as well as he usually would have. "K-" he started to argue, but his voice suddenly disappeared. Kaname had taken it from him.

Kaname hated himself. He hated this situation. He hated Nasser. He hated what he'd just done to Zero, but he couldn't let the hunter go shouting at him and using his familiar name in front of Nasser. If there was anyone Kaname could not afford to let know what Zero truly meant to him, it was this man. _"Now!"_ he repeated harshly. "I'll deal with you later."

_Please... I'm sorry, Zero, I'm so sorry... Please leave, can't you see you're making things worse?! _The mental plea broke through Zero's boiling anger enough to rekindle the hunter's reason a little. He should have known better than to challenge Kaname in front of the other pureblood. He knew how important this was, and he was screwing up. But... but _damn it all to hell! _Kaname had _lied _to him. And now, every instinct he had was telling him to not leave his lover alone with the other pureblood. Zero was angry, but he was also scared. He was afraid for Kaname and it was an awful and unusual sensation.

It was only because Zero trusted Kaname enough to believe him that his presence right now really would make matters worse that he finally complied. The hunter forced himself to give a small nod, turn on his heel and leave the room. It was a hard, hard thing for him to do. His strong nature naturally revolted against having to act like a good little whipped puppy, sent to wait in the hall for his master. His fists clenched at his sides. _Only_ for Kaname's sake could he submit himself to these things. He let the door close behind him, but stopped just outside in the hall, not about to go very far. He didn't see Nasser's man out here, so the other bodyguard probably had default instructions about where to go to make himself scarce.

The instant Zero was out the door, he felt his vocal chords relax and return to his control. He _hated _it when Kaname strong-handed him like that, but he supposed he reluctantly sort of understood why he had. The hunter kicked himself for losing his cool in a way that had endangered Kaname, even as he continued to seethe with anger over what had just happened. Some of his ire was directed at Kaname, but most of it was reserved for Nasser.

_"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." _Kaname's abject mental apology echoed through him miserably, following him out into the hall and easing a bit of the sting out of his dismissal.

_"I just hope you know what you're doing. Watch yourself, Kaname, that bastard's trouble." _Zero sent back a bit tartly, although his genuine concern still flickered through underneath.

Back inside the conference room, Kaname was completely aware that Nasser was trouble, but not so sure he knew what he was doing. He'd sent Zero away because there was nothing else he _could _do, and seriously, it wasn't like he should be afraid to be alone with Nasser. Kaname was an incredibly powerful pureblood vampire, even despite his young age, he shouldn't be afraid of anyone. And he wasn't... at least, not in _that _way. He wasn't afraid of Nasser attacking him or anything like that, but he _was_ afraid of the strange feelings that the other pureblood seemed capable of evoking in him so easily. Ultimately, Kaname was afraid of his own weakness.

Nasser smiled contentedly, enjoying the play of uncertain emotions that Kaname was trying so hard to hide from him. "Well, that's better, isn't it?" He shifted closer. The younger pureblood started to draw back, but Nasser's hand closed around his forearm, forcing Kaname to decide between a struggle that would make him appear panicky, or standing his ground and pretending he didn't care about the other vampire's proximity. Predictably, Kaname chose the latter.

Kaname glanced disdainfully at Nasser's hand on his arm as if inspecting a particularly disgusting fungus he'd just discovered growing on his sleeve. "If by _better _you mean a complete waste of my time, then yes," he replied in an acidic, bored tone. "Let's not play games any longer, you and I both know that you have no intention of coming to any kind of agreement with me that is anything less than you getting everything you want and then some. And since _that _is not about to happen, we have nothing left to discuss."

Kaname yanked his arm away but Nasser just caught hold of it again. "I think we have a lot to discuss, Kaname," the other pureblood purred. "Maybe not about this, but we could find other things to talk about..." Nasser's eyes were focused and purposeful now. Kaname got the impression that all the subterfuge of the meeting up to this point was mere stage setting for this conversation.

"I waited for you," Nasser murmured, an almost curious tone entering his voice. "For years, I waited, wondering how long it would take. Then I got tired of waiting. I'll admit, I didn't think you had it in you to stay away like this, but I'm almost glad you did. As you know, I love challenges."

Kaname tried not to look as confused as he felt. He had no idea what Nasser was talking about, but obviously he should have, so he tried not to display his ignorance. "Well you can go right _on _waiting then, until hell freezes over and thaws again," he said coolly.

Nasser chuckled. "You don't mean that, Kaname... surely, you don't really mean that." His grip on Kaname's forearm tightened, his eyes intense and searching as they gazed through the younger pureblood as if reading his soul.

Kaname's knees felt strangely weak. Heat blossomed through his body, his heart thudded and sick, unwanted arousal sparked through every nerve ending he possessed. Nasser seemed suddenly very close and very desirable. Warning bells were pealing so loudly he could barely hear himself think. _What the hell was wrong with him?! _He knew Nasser was doing this to him, but he didn't know _how_ and he couldn't seem to repel the effects. Purebloods had innate natural defenses against one another. Their auras shielded them from each other and the strength of their wills created bubbles of protection around them, keeping them from having others' wills imposed upon them. It was this strength that lower class vampires did not have, or at least, had in much lesser degrees. It was why they could be dominated and controlled by purebloods.

But somehow... _unthinkably_... Nasser seemed to be able to slide right around Kaname's barriers and have this unspeakable effect on him despite his natural defenses. Kaname didn't understand how, and as much as he desperately didn't want to admit it... that _terrified_ him.

A slow, cruel smile spread across Nasser's face as he enjoyed the other's shock and distress. Kaname was too worn out to wear his masks effectively anymore. "Don't act so surprised, Kaname. Did you think time would dull our... affinity? You underestimate either yourself or me, I'm not sure which. Don't tell me you've forgotten...?"

Kaname was a closed book to most people, but Nasser read the slight, but damning tell in the brief flicker behind the younger vampire's eyes. The older pureblood's smile deepened. "Or... _have_ you, forgotten, Kaname?"

Nasser took a step forward, his dark eyes fixed on his prey, because at this moment it was obvious that _prey_ was exactly what Kaname was.

Kaname felt the dreadful urge to back up, but knew better, holding his ground calmly, although he felt anything but calm. His insides were churning and the strange heat inside him was sending trembling shivers through his nerves. He felt horribly drawn to Nasser, like an addict scenting the tantalizing fragrance of their drug of choice after having been sober for years.

Suddenly Nasser's hands were on Kaname's shoulders and his face was very close, a mocking, seductive smile flickering in his amused gaze. Panic thundered in Kaname's chest as he found that for half a horrible instant, he physically couldn't move. Nasser's presence and proximity were trigging a jumbled flood of half-occluded flashbacks, and the timing was extremely inopportune. Jumbled images and blinding flashes of light flickered frenetically before his eyes as reality suddenly distorted. It splintered strangely, like a broken mirror with every piece displaying a different twisted reflection that made no sense.

"How much of our time together do you remember, hm?" Nasser leaned close, hand sliding to Kaname's chin and tilting it up as his lips ghosted intimately close to those of the other pureblood, seeking a kiss. "Do you remember everything I taught you?" he whispered. "Or will I need to teach you all over again...?"

Kaname's body was ridged. His head was spinning, full of ghostly sounds, voices and images that bore no resemblance to any reality he knew. There was that soft crying echoing in the back of his mind again, sobbing as if it would tear his mind apart. And there were other voices, babbling and hissing like schizophrenic whispers, like the past was buried inside him, clawing to get out and threatening to destroy his grip on reality in the process. Fear and confusion threatened to swallow him and his heart raced raggedly. His frozen body very nearly trembled as Nasser's mouth brushed his. The sensation was enticing and suddenly horribly familiar. The older pureblood's warm breath caressed his clammy skin and Nasser's intense pheromones filled his dizzy, hideously unguarded senses, making his mind hazy and unfocused as if he'd been drugged.

He should be fighting like crazy. He should push the other pureblood away... heck, he should push him straight through the _wall_, but Kaname couldn't move. He couldn't even really realize that he _should. _His mind was shredding itself from the inside out and he wasn't sure if this was really happening or if it was just one of the vivid, confused snatches of memory that were quaking through him. It was surreal, like he was trapped in his nightmares again and any moment he would wake up.

Nasser parted the younger vampire's warm, moist lips with his own, sliding into the sweet, velvety heat and enjoying the chance to dominate Kaname while the boy was still reeling from whatever shock he was experiencing. What on earth had Kaname done to himself? He'd apparently not attempted to make any defenses between them in the years they'd been apart. Of course, if he'd made himself forget things... then that explained a lot. This was easier than Nasser thought it would be, almost _too_ easy. He was going to have to punish Kuran for that. It wasn't nice of him to spoil Nasser's fun by taking some of the sport out of it. _Oh yes... he'd have a lot of fun, punishing him. _

Kaname's incapacitation was fleeting, but it was more than enough time for Nasser to take advantage of the situation. He swiftly and ruthlessly started building invisible webs of his will all around the younger vampire, exploiting Kaname's momentary vulnerability in order to trap his prey more securely. Vampires might seem to be unnaturally obsessed with strength and control, but there was in fact a very good reason for that. There was a reason purebloods could never afford to be vulnerable around one another and that was because a few unguarded moments was all it took for one of their kind with the right experience to penetrate the mind of a victim and take control. Even if their victim was another pureblood.

The exertion was significant and it was taking all of Nasser's concentration to try to do it fast enough, before his prey could realize what was happening and counter-attack. It was risky... but not as risky as it would have been if he'd thought Kaname might catch on to what he was doing mentally. He didn't think he would, though. With a little bit of luck, Kaname was going to think that the problem was all on his own side. After all... Nasser was _only _kissing him. Why didn't he just pull away if he wanted to stop? The pureblood's lips twitched in a cruel smile against those beneath him. _Do you still blame yourself for everything that happens, Kuran? Let's find out..._

Unseen, serpentine tendrils of indefinable power wound themselves around Kaname's brain stem, skating through his synapses and gripping his motor controls, heightening his sensations while slowing his movements and reason. By the time Kaname finally realized that he should start struggling, it was going to be too late for him to regain control. Nasser was very much the figurative spider, wrapping his prey up in a cocoon of deceptively strong and deadly silk.

The older vampire's grip tightened and he leaned further into the one-sided, but delectable kiss. Kaname was _his,_ even if only for a little while. It would take too much strength to maintain this control very long, but he could certainly hold onto it long enough for things to be amusing. This was such an unexpected treat. _Too easy, Kaname... way too easy. You disappoint me. _

Kaname felt Nasser's mouth invade his, he felt the small of his back being pressed against the edge of the conference table as Nasser pushed him back suggestively. Some part of him was retreating, panicking and trying to wake up all at the same time, but the very real sensation of the other pureblood's probing tongue brought him up cold and hard out of the confused shock of his damaged memory. His eyes widened slightly as if he were only just becoming aware of the situation. This wasn't a dream, it was _happening_. Unthinkably, he was _letting _it happen. With a shudder, he vigorously started trying to pull away, but to his horror, his motions were sluggish at best and his limbs felt heavy and weak. It may not be an actual nightmare, but the sensation of not being able to move properly felt terribly similar.

A soft, sharp click sounded from across the room behind them as the door opened. Nasser turned his head to see Zero standing in the doorway, gun pointed straight at the older pureblood's head. The conference room was sound proofed and he'd not heard their conversation, but he had clearly felt a sharp tug of distress from Kaname through their bond. He had heeded that unconscious call, but what he found shocked him deeply. Of all the things he might have expected to find, Kaname making out with another man was certainly _not _one of them. The level of light in the room dropped.

"Step, away," the hunter ordered Nasser through his teeth, amethyst eyes icy cold and burning with fury and hatred.

Zero wanted to pull the trigger so badly he could _taste _it. A hot, throbbing, blinding fist of jealousy coiled in his stomach, wrapping around his heart and lungs and making it hard to breathe. He could not erase what he had just seen from his mind. Walking in on Kaname kissing somebody else was not something he'd ever worried about until this moment. He could not expunge the mental image of finding Nasser leaning intimately into his lover like that, nor the fact that Kaname was just fucking _standing there _and _letting_ the other pureblood claim his mouth - a privilege that should belong only to Zero. It hurt. _Dear God, it hurt. _

However, even around the stunned red haze squeezing his heart, Zero was not blind. There was more to this scene than met the eye. There was something so wildly off about all this, something so _wrong_ about the whole situation that it was making the hairs on his neck and arms stand on end. He had felt Kaname's distress, even if he couldn't understand it given what he was seeing. His hunter sense were blaring warnings and the truth was that Kaname didn't look at all like he was enjoying himself. Zero knew what a passionate Kaname looked like and this was not even close. The younger pureblood may not be resisting, but neither was he reciprocating and his body language was screaming a kind of tension and fear that Zero was unaccustomed to seeing in his lover. Anything that scared Kaname, had to be downright terrifying. Looking at Nasser's coldly amused face, however, Zero wasn't afraid, he was just plain _furious_.

Nasser merely raised his eyebrows at the interruption and started to turn back to Kaname, but Zero strode quickly across the small space between them and jammed the muzzle of his gun against the side of the older pureblood's temple, clearly indicating he meant business. "I _said _step away!" he repeated, ready to physically push Nasser away from Kaname if he did not comply. Or shoot him. Actually, he'd really prefer shooting him.

Nasser's smile was predatory and a little annoyed. He masterfully suppressed any signs of a wince as the barrel of the Bloody Rose crackled and tingled painfully against his skin. "Kaname..." he murmured in a deceptively pleasant tone, his face way too close to the other pureblood again, despite the gun digging into his temple. "Call your pet off before I forget my manners and gut him..."

If Zero were anyone else, Nasser would already have ended his meaningless existence for this affront. Kaname's protégé or not, the stupid boy was forfeiting his life by shoving a hunter weapon at a pureblood like that. However, the truth was that Nasser unfortunately needed this particular pet of Kaname's to still be around, at least for a few more weeks. Some of his plans would not work nearly so well with the hunter out of the picture. Still, if pressed too hard he would simply kill the impudent brat and come up with a new contingency plan. Inconvenient, but he could manage. Restraint was not a virtue in his mind.

Kaname shuddered once. Zero's presence and Nasser's words were a slap of cold water, reaching him through the stranglehold the other pureblood had on his senses. "Zero, get back!" he ordered. The brusque command sounded harsh, but it was harsh from fear, not from anger. A sick blaze of terror at the very dangerous position Zero had placed himself in spiked through Kaname's already churning insides. He should never have let things get this far out of control. If he'd backed Nasser off to start with, then Zero would not have had to intervene for his sake- _again. _

The thought that he might not be able to protect his lover, given his bizarre helplessness to even keep Nasser from _kissing _him, was terrifying and Kaname felt nauseous all over again. Because of Zero's attitude and the trouble his mouth and lack of respect could possibly get him into in certain company, Kaname had always counted on the fact that he could protect him from any other vampire if the need arose. But now, he felt so stunningly vulnerable he had no idea if he could even adequately protect his mate, and the deep, visceral worthlessness that that made him feel twisted inside him like a knife.

Kaname felt as if he'd physically been punched in the stomach. He didn't know how he was ever going to earn his lover's forgiveness for any of this. The lingering sensation of Nasser's lips and tongue were still horribly clear on his skin and he wanted urgently to wash his mouth with bleach. He was aware how things must have looked to the hunter when he came in upon the two purebloods. What must Zero think of him? The hunter would think he'd wanted to kiss Nasser, how could he not? He'd... he'd think that Kaname had betrayed him... and the unbearably painful truth was that he had. He hadn't meant to, he didn't know how in the hell it had happened, but he had.

Kaname knew how he would have felt, how he would have reacted if he'd found Zero kissing someone else. Zero had a lot more restraint than he did, apparently. The young pureblood wanted to just curl up and die, he wanted to beg his lover to forget what he'd seen and try to explain the unexplainable, but he couldn't. He had to hang onto the act and maintain the mask long enough to get them both out of this very hazardous situation. _If_ he was even capable of doing that much at this point. No. There was no if. He would not _let _there be an _if. _Hot, steely determination took root inside him, surging ruthlessly through his veins.

It was the very real possibility of danger to Zero that finally pulled Kaname out of his almost drugged, frozen state. It was what gave him the desperate strength needed to pull his will free from Nasser's strange, clinging grip and start asserting himself again, even without realizing what he was doing. With monumental effort he threw off the webs the other pureblood had been wrapping around him, urgently shoving them back in order to regain control of himself. The deep, primal need to protect his mate raised the game to a whole new level, and even if Kaname did not know how to fight for himself, he would fight anything for Zero. Anger welled up raw and fierce in the young pureblood's gut, helping to clear his head.

Kaname turned dark, flashing eyes on Nasser, not caring anymore whether the other pureblood knew just how much he hated him. Surely, Nasser must already know. This situation had gone way beyond salvaging. Kaname had no more face left to lose and nothing to gain by playing nice any longer.

"Get out," the younger pureblood hissed at the older. "Get out of my building and out of my city. I'm tired of indulging your stupid, perverted little games. You touch anything of mine, and I will show you what hell looks like," he promised, stepping protectively in front of Zero. He could only hope that Nasser would take his anger to be about the other pureblood's unwanted advances, which was partly true, and that Nasser would think his possessiveness towards Zero was one of staking territory rather than anything more dangerous.

Nasser could see that he'd lost his advantage for the moment. He carefully did not show how much it physically smarted when Kaname snapped out of his mental grip like that... nor how surprised he was that the younger vampire had been _able _to. He may have been able to cross Kaname's threshold when he had an advantage, but the boy was impressively strong to be able to just pull free like that after Nasser had worked so hard and so carefully to tangle him up. It really shouldn't have been possible, at least, not so quickly and easily.

Nasser probably should have felt irritated that his plans were disrupted and his hard won advantage lost, but he was nothing if not patient, and he couldn't help being a little thrilled by his prey's amazing ability to escape when he should have been well and truly snared. Kuran had a way of continually surprising him, and considering that _nothing _ever surprised him anymore, Nasser liked that. It was what made the game worthwhile.

Weakness was to be punished and strength rewarded, so Nasser let Kaname have his way on this matter and simply smiled indulgently. "Kaname, Kaname... you're far too young to know anything about hell. Trust me. But you will know. I'll teach you. Goodbye for now. We'll be meeting again soon, I'm sure." With a small nod of his head, Nasser swept from the room as if he owned the place and disappeared down the hall.

There were several long moments of silence. Kaname felt numb, he was trying to think of something to say, and utterly failing. He felt drained, dizzy and... _empty. _Zero was trying to talk himself out of hunting Nasser down later and shooting him somewhere in private. Ill-advised and probably suicidal, but right now it was _such _an appealing option.

Once Nasser's presence had faded completely, Zero's gaze rested accusingly on Kaname. He folded his arms, trying very hard to be reasonable and not give into his throbbing headache and painfully stirred up emotions. "Okay. This would be the part where you tell me what the hell that was all about."

Kaname sighed, running his hand down his face and resisting the urge to grip the table for support. "Zero, I'm sorry... I hated yelling at you and doing those things... you know I did, the situation was just..."

"That's _not_ the part I'm talking about," Zero cut him off.

Kaname knew that, but he also knew that he didn't have an answer for any of the rest of it. He had to leave he just... he had to leave. He brushed by Zero and headed for the door, badly shaken. He'd miscalculated, somehow... he'd left Nasser with leverage over him that he didn't even understand. A pureblood who couldn't hold his own with another pureblood was intensely desirable prey of the most damming kind. He felt so vulnerable he actually wanted to throw up. He'd betrayed Zero and worst of all... his unforgivable _weakness _today could have cost Zero his life. He would never forgive himself for that. Never.

"Kaname, don't you dare walk away from me! I'm trying to be open minded here, but give me something!" Zero demanded, catching his lover's arm a little more roughly than he intended. He was deeply concerned, deeply hurt and more than a little furious. "You were fucking _kissing _him."

Kaname shook him off roughly, scrabbling almost desperately away from the contact. He couldn't stand to be touched right now, not even by Zero. Everything inside him was whirling. The doorway in his mind was growing. Everything felt wrong and he wanted to run.

"I was not! I..." Kaname trailed off, angry, hurting and defensive but knowing he hadn't a leg to stand on, which just made all those emotions even more acute.

"Okay, _he _was kissing _you,_" Zero rephrased tensely, willing to give his lover that much since he really did doubt that Kaname had initiated the contact. "I get that. But you weren't stopping him either!"

Kaname's fists balled at his sides. He didn't speak. There was nothing he could say. He wanted to try and explain himself, but there was no explanation that wasn't just as damning as his silence. He couldn't tell Zero why that had happened, when he himself didn't know.

"Kaname... please... Why do you do this? Why won't you just _talk _to me? Tell me _honestly _what the hell is going on. Tell me _now, _I mean it!" Zero's voice trembled, his control being severely tested. "Was that some part of your bet with him? Some way you intended to close the deal? What?! You lied to me about the wager being over blood, didn't you?" The look in Kaname's eyes instantly confirmed that he was right. The hunter's heart twisted sharply in his chest. He couldn't believe this. "You did. I knew it. The way he talked... Kaname what did you promise him?" He knew, but he didn't want to accept it.

Kaname looked away, the agonizing, shame-filled guilt written so clearly on his face that it almost made Zero's heart stop beating, before it jumped up into his temples and started pounding so hard that he could hardly think. "What did you promise him?!" he demanded.

"You heard him," Kaname forced out the admission, beginning to hyperventilate. "You already know." He was instinctually trying to hide behind his emotionless mask for protection from the pain tearing him apart, but that was the wrong tact to take with Zero, because that particular mask aggravated the hell out of him. Somehow, despite how long they'd been together now, that was one thing Kaname never seemed to realize.

"You mean your _body_?" Zero was unable to hide his incredulous hurt and rage. "You promised you'd _sleep _with that piece of trash?!"

Kaname flinched, unable to meet Zero's gaze. "I... yes." The words were barely a whisper. "Only if he won, but... yes." The pureblood's eyes stung bitterly. He refused to cry as humiliation washed through him. _Well, now Zero knew at least part of the truth about what a whore his lover actually was, didn't he? _The pureblood could barely breathe.

Zero was so stunned at the confirmation that he didn't know what to say. The world had run out of oxygen it seemed, along with solid ground. He was free-falling through space. How could Kaname do something like this? How could he have so little respect for himself? Or even for Zero's feelings on the matter, but... but especially for himself?! How could Kaname barter such a priceless gift, with someone who would use it so carelessly and probably cruelly? Zero couldn't even imagine it. The sudden flood of mental images that his brain unhelpfully supplied of the two purebloods being intimate was almost enough to make him feel insane. That bastard would hurt Kaname badly if he was allowed the chance, Zero just knew it.

"HOW COULD YOU?!" the hunter fairly exploded, his eyes flashing darkly, the outer rim of his iris starting to flame red as he lost his battle for control. "How could you make a bet like that?! I don't _care _what the stakes were, there is _no _information in the world that is worth that kind of sacrifice!" he shouted hoarsely. "We _both _want to know what happened to Yuki, but not at this kind of cost! You know she wouldn't have wanted you to do that either and did you even _think _about how I might feel?"

Kaname pressed his eyes shut, unable to witness the pain and anger that he had caused in his lover. He was such a failure and there was nothing he could do to make things right anymore. "Zero... I'm sorry... I didn't want to hurt you."

"No, but hurting yourself is okay, right? Damn it!" Zero shoved Kaname back against the wall before he could realize what he was doing. "How _could _you?!" The ex-human choked on the words, near tears. He hated the way Kaname seemed to value himself so little. He was so freaking precious, and he was ready to just throw himself away and let that - that arrogant bastard violate him!

To Zero's surprise, Kaname shoved back. The punch of kinetic power hit Zero in the chest and threw him backwards several feet. Only a lot of practice in dealing with Kaname's invisible punches when sparring made Zero able to react in time to keep his feet and not be thrown sprawling.

Kaname caught himself quickly. He'd had his eyes closed and had panicked when Zero pushed him. Now he struggled to control himself, looking down at his hands in horror and quickly hugging his arms in against his chest as if he could keep the power inside of him from spilling over without his leave. _It was happening again. It had happened before. _Somehow he knew that, although he didn't know when or why.

Kaname saw blood on the floor, on his hands, on his clothes... blood that he knew wasn't real but he could see it anyway. _Oh God, it was happening again... don't let it, don't let it!_

"Don't touch me!" Kaname snapped hoarsely. He was trembling, confused and scared shitless that he was going to hurt Zero. This all seemed terribly familiar somehow, and yet he didn't know why. "Stay away from me!" He turned abruptly and disappeared with vampire speed. He couldn't stay. Who knew what might happen? He wasn't safe and for Zero's sake he had to leave. He couldn't risk hurting him more than he already had. He knew he'd already done so much damage to day he would never deserve forgiveness.

"Kaname...!" Zero called after him, but it was too late. Kaname was already gone. The hunter punched the nearest wall in frustration, bloodying his knuckles and putting a large hole in the wooden paneling and sending splinters flying. "You damn idiot!" he punched the wall again, but his shoulders were shaking and tears were stinging his eyes and rolling down his cheeks. He loved Kaname, even though he wanted to bash his head in right now. Actually, the only reason he wanted to bash it in was _because _he loved him so much.

Zero gave up his assault on the wall and rested his forehead against it instead, breathing hard. "Kaname..." the murmur was softer and more anguished this time.

It would be so easy for him to give into jealousy, to think of all the ways that Kaname fit much more suitably with another pureblood than with him. But after everything they'd been through... he just couldn't think that way. He knew Kaname too well and he couldn't believe that was really what was going on here.

Zero knew his partner loved him, he didn't doubt that, but he didn't understand what was happening anymore, and if he didn't understand, how could he help? Kaname had pushed him away just now and all but cringed from his touch, and even though Zero felt sure he ought not to read too much into that rejection... it still hurt, especially after what had happened between Kaname and Nasser a few minutes ago. _Kaname, what have you done, why are you acting like this? How can I protect you when you don't seem to trust me? Why does it feel like the whole world is going crazy? _


	16. Twilight of Innocence

_A/N: And the past finally starts to come out. I think it's pretty clear, but I'll mention it anyway - the second half of this chapter is in flashback form, and the flashback will continue over the next couple chapters. Nasser is, of course, creepy and evil, but nothing really bad happens yet this chapter. There will be warnings on the next one though. Review responses are in my forum, as usual - link is on my bio page._

**Chapter Sixteen: "Twilight of Innocence"**

Kaname stood in his bedroom, looking out the window. The sky was beginning to lighten. He'd come home shortly after leaving Zero at the office and he was calmer now. It was the kind of numb calm that followed a natural disaster, or was brought on by knowing that avoiding the inevitable was no longer possible.

Zero had not returned home yet, despite the fact that it was almost morning. _What if he doesn't come back? _The pureblood closed his eyes against the horrible thought, pressing his palm against the window pane. Zero had been there for him today. He'd helped save Kaname from himself and from Nasser and Kaname been nothing but cruel to him. A single tear slid down the pureblood's cheek. He hated himself. He hated the world they lived in. He hated who and what he had been born. If he was nobody... if he'd been born some insignificant common vampire or even a human... he would have been so much happier. He could have some wonderfully boring and meaningless life and share it fully with the person he loved, whom he wouldn't have to hide and treat like a serf in front of people who weren't worthy to even shine his shoes.

Kaname's fingertips curled against the cool window pane, his nails brushing the glass and sending dull shivers down his spine. _Please come back, Zero. I don't deserve it, you ought to have so much better than I can give you, but I need you. _Despite his fears, in his heart he didn't really believe that Zero would leave him over this. The hunter might stay away for a while though. That would be utterly painful, but no less than he deserved.

Bleakly, Kaname almost wished that Zero was a little more sadistically inclined. A less gentle, more vampiric lover might have been persuaded to physically punish the pureblood for his transgressions and let him earn forgiveness through submission, but Zero wasn't like that at all. Zero wouldn't even intentionally punish him, but he might withdraw. He might pull away until he had sorted out how he was feeling and to Kaname that would hurt a hundred times worse than if there was some tangible, physical thing he could offer his lover to try and make things right. But Zero wouldn't be Zero if he were any different than he was, and Kaname loved him for that too.

Kaname turned away from the window and slowly opened the fist that had been clenched at his side. In his palm lay a small, almost innocuous looking crystal cube.

_It was time. He should have done this long ago. When Zero came back, he would have questions, and Kaname was __**going**__ to have answers for him. Answers he didn't fully possess right now... but he would. It was time to see what he had been running from for so long. _

In his anguish, he found the strength, or perhaps just the desperation, to face whatever was behind that miserable door in his mind. To find out what he had forgotten. Nasser had too much power over him. He had some kind of hold that had made Kaname hurt Zero in a way he'd never, ever wanted to hurt him. Kaname needed to know why. He needed to know why Nasser could get around his defenses, why he reacted to him the way he did. He needed to be able to stop him so this never happened again. There was only one way to find those answers.

The pureblood lifted the cube higher, holding it between forefinger and thumb as he gazed into it, staring resolutely at the perfect reflection of his own eye gazing back. Opening his mind, Kaname focused on that reflection, focused his gaze and his powers inward.

Sights, sounds and sensations started to whirl around him like the dull roar of restaurant chatter before they slowly began to clear and sharpen. He wanted to shrink from it as the past began to pour over him, bubbling up like pus from a long hidden wound, but he forced himself to watch and to remember. He forced himself to keep pushing as the old mental barriers gave under his touch one by one.

_It was the doorway from his nightmares again. He sensed it more than saw it. His hands were on the latch, but he wasn't trying to keep it closed this time. The doorway quivered and shook and he felt somehow that the mouth of hell lay just beyond. Resolutely, Kaname shoved at the crossbeam. _Open! Open, damn you... _Breaking through the last resistance and throwing open the door in his mind, he stepped across the frightening threshold into the abyss beyond. _

It was time to shine light into the darkness, even if it burned like the sun. It was time to face whatever demons were on the other side, no matter the cost.

* * *

It was light outside, but the inside of the house was dark when Zero let himself in, shortly after daybreak. After Kaname left he hadn't been sure what to do with himself. He was too riled up to go home and either possibly run into Kaname or have to sulk around an empty house. So he'd driven around for a while on his bike. He'd stopped and had a couple drinks at some all-night dive. He'd cursed the fact that he couldn't get good and wasted without going to a vampire bar, but being surrounded by blood suckers was something he couldn't have stood right now. He'd driven around some more. Then he'd finally come home.

There was never any doubt that he _would _come home. He may be hurt and angry with Kaname right now, but he still loved the stupid jerk. He had just needed time to cool down. The young hunter was tired and still in a very poor mood, but his temper at least had finally abated, leaving just a dull, aching throb of lead in his heart.

Zero automatically slid out of his jacket and slipped off his shoes, leaving them in the foyer. Both were wet from a light rain earlier and he didn't want to track water through the house.

Something was obviously wrong about everything. Kaname wasn't acting at all like himself. Zero knew the truth about the wager now, and that certainly explained some of his lover's dodgy behavior, but he felt sure there was more than that at the root of things. There was an explanation hidden somewhere, and he wanted to know it. The bet Kaname had made, while horrifying, didn't explain why he was acting like this now. Not even the idea that he might have been somehow involved with Nasser-the-incredible-pureblood-shithead-Ardon in the past could really explain it.

Initially, he hadn't been able to help wondering if Kaname and Nasser had been romantically involved in the past and that's why Kaname reacted to him as he did, because he still had feelings for him or something. It was hard to imagine though, because Zero was pretty sure that up until him, Kaname had been in love only with Yuki his entire life. But there was that odd thing Takuma had said about Kaname and Nasser, and there was a lot that was impossible to explain or understand right now. The more he thought about it though, the less that theory seemed like a reasonable explanation. Zero did not think he was fooling himself by thinking that his and Kaname's relationship, their love, was too important to Kaname for him to risk damaging it in such a ridiculous manner over an old flame or something like that.

Besides... there was that tension he'd felt every time Kaname and Nasser interacted. Kaname was afraid of the other vampire for whatever reason. _That _raised protective feelings within Zero that not even his confused anger could dampen. Somehow, in his heart of hearts, he truly had to believe that there was an explanation for everything. With Kaname, there almost always was, you just had to dig deep enough to find it and that was exactly what Zero intended to do.

He mounted the stairs quietly but resolutely. He was not going to run and hide and nurse his hurts in solitude. Not this time. They needed to have this out. He and Kaname had nearly destroyed themselves and each other in the past because they both retreated too easily into protective silence when their hearts were in danger of being hurt. Zero had learned a thing or two since then, including the fact that his and Kaname's relationship was worth fighting for. If he couldn't understand what was going on, then Kaname was just going to have to try to _make _him understand.

The upper level of the house was as silent and dark as the first floor, but Zero could tell that Kaname was up here. It was late and the pureblood might have gone to bed, but in that case he was just going to have to wake up. They needed to talk. Not shout, not argue, not evade one another... they needed to really _talk. _If Kaname had an explanation, he wanted to hear it. He _needed _to hear it.

A deep, intense sadness filled Zero's soul as he walked silently down the long hallway leading to Kaname's bedroom. Given his state of mind, he thought it was his own feelings and did not realize it was seeping through to him from their bond.

The door to Kaname's rooms stood open. No lights were turned on, but the pale, unexpected glow of morning sunlight filtered out into the hall. The pureblood must not have drawn the blinds, although that was a pretty weird oversight for him. Kaname was fairly sensitive to sunlight and did not like having it in the room when he was sleeping.

As he crossed the threshold, Zero stepped on something small and hard. A smooth but sharply angled edge dug into his sock-clad foot before the slippery object skittered away from him, across the thick carpet. The clear crystal caught in the watery morning sunlight, flashing brightly for a moment.

It was Kaname's memory cube, although what it was doing discarded on the floor like this, the hunter couldn't imagine. That question didn't bother him for long, however, because the instant he set foot in Kaname's room, his heart filled with dread.

Both his and Kaname's bedrooms were sound and scent proof by design in order to maintain privacy from any visiting guests. Out in the hall, Zero had smelled nothing, but once he'd crossed the charmed entryway into his lover's room, the sudden, overwhelming scent pervading the air hit him hard.

Blood. Pure, vampire blood. Kaname's blood. It was very fresh.

Zero's gun was in his hand in a flash and he rushed further into the room, looking around urgently. The place was a wreck. Every window, mirror and decorative vase had shattered, book shelves had fallen over and the walls looked like they had sustained blast damage, only without any burn marks. Zero's heart leapt into his throat, but after a moment he realized that the damage was not the result of a fight or struggle. It looked more like an earthquake or... an uncontrolled micro-burst of pureblood power. He could sense no intruders present and it quickly became clear that his weapon was unnecessary.

Zero found Kaname kneeling on the floor in the middle of the room. The pureblood was hugging himself and rocking back and forth. He was still wearing his dress slacks and shirt from earlier, but the formerly white shirt was now shredded and stained crimson. The brunette's fingers were claws which were methodically raking and gouging his flesh as if he were trying to lay himself open to the bone. His pureblood body was not obliging, healing him as quickly as he was injured. His clothing was deeply colored with his own blood and the same crimson stain was also seeping into the carpet around where he knelt like a dark, frightening shadow creeping steadily outward.

Kaname was shaking and crying silently. He did not look up when Zero entered. He didn't even seem aware of the other vampire's presence. His eyes were open, but they were glassy and sightless. He looked utterly shell shocked.

Zero dropped his gun and rushed to his lover's side, his heart pounding in horror and anguish. Something was terribly, _terribly_ wrong.

"Kaname, what the hell are you doing?!" He fell to his knees and tried to stop his lover's agonized clawing, but the pureblood was too strong to restrain. "Stop, damn it!"

Kaname didn't acknowledge his presence. Zero shook him, lightly at first, then roughly, but he got no response. Kaname was staring sightlessly into space, numb tears streaming down his cheeks. He continued to rock and cut himself, the motions of his claws slow and mindless and yet somehow also strangely deliberate. It was as if he thought there were parasites under his skin and every so often he'd find one and need to urgently dig it out with his nails before going back to the slow, rhythmic slashing that matched his rocking. It was _incredibly_ disturbing.

"Kaname, what's wrong? Say something! Look at me! Kaname, please!" Zero was starting to get truly frightened. Nothing he did seemed to make a difference. Kaname didn't appear to know he was even there. "Kaname!" In desperation, he slapped the pureblood, trying to get his attention, but even that did no good. Kaname's head snapped to the side before slowly falling back to its previous position, but he didn't react, didn't seem to register the sensation. He just kept rocking and bleeding.

Zero's stomach curdled, his heart constricting in fear. He knelt in front of Kaname and wrapped his arms around him, hugging him, trying to hold him still. After a few moments struggle, this finally seemed to work a little. Kaname stopped rocking although his hands still twitched fitfully against his abused skin. He trembled in Zero's arms, still not aware of him. It was like the pureblood was catatonic.

"Kaname... Kaname please, I don't know where you are, but come back to me," Zero whispered, his voice catching. He kissed Kaname's forehead and caressed his hair, holding him tightly and begging him to snap out of it.

The small, heart rending sounds of Kaname's soft sobs were his only reply. Whatever private version of hell the pureblood was trapped in, it must be horrible. Zero was desperate to pull him out of it, but he didn't know how and nothing seemed to be working.

In desperation, Zero pressed his forehead to Kaname's, closing his eyes and reaching out for him through the bond and the mental connection that they shared. Merging their minds was not something they did often, but right now it was the only thing left that Zero could think of to try. If he couldn't pull Kaname out of wherever he was trapped, then maybe he could go in after him.

The instant Zero connected with his lover's mind, he was flooded with an agony of despair, shame, self-loathing and hopelessness so intense it took his breath away. Thoughts and images spun and whirled nauseatingly through his mind, like a movie stuck on fast-forward with the audio live and blaring a shriek of gibberish. None of it was his, so none of it made sense. Zero reeled, almost recoiling from the unordered confusion, but he forced himself to hold the connection.

_Kaname...? Kaname! _Zero felt like he was shouting into a gale, his mental voice spinning away into nothing in the chaos inside his lover's mind. It was unlike every other time he'd connected with Kaname in this manner. Usually, the instant they touched, he was filled with the sensation of Kaname's presence and an incredible nearness to his thoughts. But this time, there was only emptiness, confusion and pain. It was as if Kaname were hiding, curled up somewhere deep inside himself beyond the hunter's reach.

Desperately, Zero pushed deeper, much deeper than he would normally have ever dared venture. There, in the darkness and the disorder, he finally found Kaname. There was no body or physical self on this level of awareness, but because they were by nature physical beings, Zero's mind still tended to interpret things in those terms. So it seemed to him that Kaname's consciousness was indeed hiding, pulled back into an agonized ball of pain in a dark corner of his own mind.

Even though lacking an actual physical form, for some reason it seemed to Zero that the Kaname he found was somehow younger than he should be, although he had no idea why it seemed that way. There was much that happened in this realm which defied concrete description and could only be rationalized later through metaphor.

Zero tried to fill his thoughts with as much love and reassurance as he could muster, coaxing and soothing as he reached out to Kaname, trying to bring him out of the darkness.

In the formless void, the small, illusory shape shrunk back. _I can't... I can't... you'll hate me. __**I**__ hate me. I'm so filthy... so dirty... I'll never be clean. You don't know, Zero... you don't know..._

_I can't hate you, I love you. I __**love **__you, Kaname. Tell me what's hurting you, don't keep me away, please... _Even as Zero gently coaxed, he was already sliding completely into his lover's consciousness. Kaname had no barriers that could keep Zero out at this stage, and he was too vulnerable and raw to even try. He needed Zero. He needed him desperately, even though Zero clearly sensed the pureblood's hopeless, shattered certainty that in needing him, in letting him into his soul now and acquiescing to Zero's request for the truth... he was losing him forever.

Suddenly the pictures around Zero became clear and discernable as he merged fully with Kaname's mind and saw the scenes, thoughts and memories that were vividly assaulting him spin into focus.

It was not like watching a movie, it was not so clear nor explainable as that. There was no storyline with beginning and end, no orderly, chronological relaying of facts. Everything seemed to happen at once, memories and events welling up out of order and jumping around in time. Yet amazingly, the chaos formed a completely clear and understandable picture.

This was a non-linear realm. Things that would take hours to happen or explain in real life took only moments here. Thoughts exchanged instantly, simultaneously and without discernable form. It was much the same way that you could be thinking several different things at the same time and just know what you were thinking without attempting to follow each trail individually. Like the way you could have an idea or recall a situation instantly, but then take quite a lot longer trying to put it into words or explain it to someone else. Here there was none of that. Thoughts flowed as easy as speech, easier, in fact.

Zero was inside Kaname's memories. He didn't need to have them explained, because they were simply there. He knew them in the same way that he knew what he'd had for lunch yesterday. Yet it was different too, because while it came to him with all of Kaname's thoughts and feelings attached, he was still seeing it like an outsider. His mind struggled to keep its individuality, both preventing them from blending too dangerously far and at the same time managing to maintain an outside perspective on the tangle of memories assaulting him.

Somewhere in the midst of all this, Kaname's anguished mental voice whispered to him without hope, like dying embers drowning in a sea of guilt. _I didn't know, Zero. I swear I didn't know... I didn't remember... _

Without being told, Zero knew Kaname was not asking for his forgiveness, because the pureblood felt he deserved absolutely none.

* * *

_Ten Years Previous..._

Kaname stared down numbly at the formerly lovely woman sprawled on the floor in a spreading puddle of her own blood. Her sightless eyes stared up at the ceiling while her lover of the past several hundred years stood over her body, talking on a cell phone. Nasser held the phone to his ear with one hand while he absently licked her blood from the fingers of the other. Her lover was also her murderer.

Kaname was only half listening to Nasser's conversation. He already knew what would happen and he felt sure that the call was being made now mostly for his benefit. He had underestimated Nasser, severely. He had thought that the other pureblood had sent the woman, Sephira, to seduce the son of the bio-tech company's CEO in order to sway them in his favor. So Kaname had cleverly contrived to embroil her in a financial scandal that would make her undesirable to the young business man's reputation. He had thought man's father would insist he drop her and that Nasser would have to counter to clear her or withdraw and try another strategy, buying Kaname a little time to move some other pieces into place.

Now he realized that his assumption had been wrong all along. Nasser never intended to sway the CEO's decision through Sephira's seduction of his son, he intended to do it by framing the stupid young man for her murder and then blackmailing his father in exchange for covering it up. Much quicker, simpler, and more effective, he realized now.

Kaname glanced to the unconscious human man sprawled on the hotel bed. The unfortunate object of the late Sephira's attentions was half naked and covered in her blood. Kaname wondered if it would have made a difference if he'd gotten here sooner, but he doubted it. He was not so foolish as to think that engaging Nasser in a fight would have been a good idea. Evenly matched purebloods would always come to a useless draw, and just how evenly matched they would actually be right now was a matter of serious doubt, considering the vast age gulf between them and the fact that Kaname was still maturing into some of his powers.

No, Kaname couldn't strong-arm Nasser, he would have needed to outsmart him if he was going to win, and he had failed to do that. He'd played a very good game... but he had unwittingly been playing _Nasser's _game the whole time. Nasser had intentionally used Sephira rather than some other pawn in order to mislead Kaname about his intentions. Ultimately, even the scandal Kaname had created fit in nicely with the elder pureblood's plans, acting as a motive for the supposed crime that was now going to assure his victory. Kaname had to admire his skill, even as he hated being bested.

Nasser ended his call and pocketed his phone. He knelt briefly by Sephira's body. "It's a pity to waste her blood like this," he said with a regretful shake of his head, almost speaking to himself as much as Kaname. He brushed a finger through the woman's bloodstained curls and passed his hand down her face, closing the lifeless eyes. "Her blood was sweet and she served me well for quite a long time. She deserved to have me drain her personally... but," he sighed with a small shrug. "I need them to find a body, so I can't have her dusting too soon."

Nasser rose and wiped his hands on a handkerchief. His people would take over the scene as soon as he left and make sure everything was properly arranged before the authorities arrived. After the blackmail photos were taken, the young fool on the bed would be removed, but enough evidence of him would be left that Nasser would have continued leverage over his father for years to come.

"I think, Kaname, that we can consider this checkmate, yes? Unless you have something up your sleeve I don't know about." The elder vampire's tone was disturbingly pleasant, as if this had indeed been nothing but a chess game, played out with meaningless pieces of wood or ivory. He'd sacrificed a piece to get what he wanted, but it obviously did not matter to him in the large scheme of things.

Kaname was still young enough to believe in gentlemanly conduct. When the game was already inevitably lost, you resigned from the board gracefully, accepted the defeat and learned from it. Besides, Nasser was right, it was checkmate and he had no moves left anyway.

The younger pureblood inclined his head slightly. His features were tight, but wearing the veneer of calm control that he was already learning to perfect. "I believe at this point, I must concede," he said simply.

Nasser smiled approvingly. "A good opponent and a good loser; I like you. My car is downstairs. Why don't you come with me and we can take care of the little matter of our agreement somewhere more... suitable."

Kaname stubbornly refused to show the uneasy shiver that curled through his stomach. He did not like the idea of having to bare his neck to this man, but it couldn't be helped. "I prefer to take my own car. I have a driver waiting. Tell me where to meet you."

Nasser shrugged. "As you wish. You can follow my car. I'm afraid the estate I've retained while I am here on business is not so grand as if I were at home, but it should serve." He rested his hand on Kaname's shoulder as they descended the stairs together, but Kaname shrugged it off coolly. A deal was a deal, and he would uphold his end, but he didn't have to be friendly about it.

Nasser seemed amused. "And you, Kaname? You will be cutting your trip here short, I suppose. Your return tickets home aren't until the end of the week, yes? I imagine you thought matters would take longer here."

For some reason, Kaname didn't like the casual question, nor the fact that Nasser knew his travel plans. Only later would he kick himself for not catching the unspoken inference that since Nasser knew his itinerary... he knew exactly how long it would be before anyone missed the young pureblood.

"Since I have no further business here after tonight, yes," Kaname answered simply. He reached into his pocket for his own phone, suddenly feeling that he'd like to update those plans right now.

Nasser caught his wrist lightly but firmly, plucking the phone from his hand. Kaname stopped on the bottom stair and glared at him, incensed by the rude action. "_Excuse_ me?"

Nasser slid the phone into his own pocket. "I'll just hang on to this until our business is concluded, they'll be plenty of time for you to arrange things after that. I don't mind you taking your own car, but I wouldn't want you to try wiggling out of our wager between here and our destination, or maybe call for _help._"

It was a disgraceful suggestion and Kaname was properly affronted. "I don't welch on my deals, Ardon. I am insulted by your insinuations and I demand you return my property."

Nasser simply smiled. "No, I don' t think I will. If you are as honorable as you say, then you'll have no need for it until after we are done. Come, we waste time." He continued out the stairwell exit. It was obvious that if Kaname wanted his phone back, he was either going to have to challenge Nasser for it, or play by his rules and wait. This infuriated the young pureblood so deeply he had to struggle to control his breathing and his urge to lash out as he stoically made his way to his waiting car and got in, resisting the urge to do something petulant like slam the door. Nasser treated him like a child, but he refused to let himself be manipulated into acting like one.

One of Nasser's lackeys slid into the front passenger seat beside his driver and Kaname scowled in disgust, pushing the button to close the partition between them. Apparently, Nasser either didn't trust him at all, or he was intentionally rubbing Kaname's nose in his currently rather powerless situation. Maybe both.

The drive was longer than Kaname had expected, but uneventful. There was a growing sense of unease inside the young pureblood. He attributed it to his reluctance about what he was going to have to do when he got to Nasser's estate. He did not like that they had to go all the way out here to do it, but he understood the precaution. Nasser no doubt wanted a controlled area, where the scent of Kaname's blood in the air would not cause all the vampires within smelling distance to go crazy. That would actually be better for Kaname as well, since he'd rather this exchange did not become general knowledge.

Every now and again, Kaname glanced out the window at the rear view mirror. Every now and again, a shadow moved.

When they finally reached the secluded mansion in which Nasser was staying, Kaname entered and allowed the other pureblood to lead him into the study. Nasser offered Kaname a glass of wine, but the young pureblood refused. He hardly felt like indulging in social niceties right now.

"No, thank you. I'd like to get this over with and take my leave." Kaname hesitated for half a moment, then resolutely undid his tie and started unbuttoning his collar. The other pureblood seemed in no hurry, and Kaname would rather get the unpleasantness out of the way quickly than let Nasser gloat and continue to drag things out by playing the gracious host.

Nasser lounged in his chair, legs crossed. He leaned back, watching the boy unbutton his shirt with the interested, intent gaze of a predator. There was hunger in the depths of his eyes which made something inside Kaname feel as cold as ice. The hunger was to be expected. Kaname was used to people looking at him that way. Everyone wanted what nature had put in his veins. Yet somehow, with Nasser... it felt subtly different in a way he couldn't explain.

Feeling intensely vulnerable, Kaname stopped after undoing his top three buttons. It was enough to allow his collar to be pushed aside. He looked at Nasser expectantly. "Well? I'm afraid I'm all out of engraved invitations." Kaname knew how to act in control even when he wasn't, and it was a defense he fell back on now.

Nasser smiled but didn't rise from his seat. "Hmm... better take the shirt off. I don't suppose you brought a spare."

Kaname's jaw muscles worked. The smug bastard was enjoying this far too much. Nasser could have easily taken from him without ruining his shirt if he _wanted _to. Of course Kaname _didn't _have a spare with him, and walking around later with anything that smelled of his blood would be like putting out a giant _"eat me"_ sign to all the vampires in the area. Not that most of them would try to follow through on it... but he would probably be weak after Nasser was done with him and it was a complication he didn't need. He had to remember that he was not on his home territory right now and his influence was extremely limited.

Forcing his unwilling fingers to move, Kaname unbuttoned his shirt the rest of the way and slid it off, carefully draping it and his tie over the arm of one of the chairs. He was naked now from the waist up and he felt it keenly for some reason. Perhaps it was the way Nasser's gaze was sliding over him. It made his flesh crawl. The feeling that this was a very, _very_ bad idea had grown from a suspicion into a certainty by now.

Nasser rose from his chair and glided over to Kaname, graceful as a cat. His long fingers slid across the boy's soft, perfect skin, feeling the shape of his shoulder and ghosting across one wine-colored nipple, which immediately pebbled in response.

Kaname took a quick step back. He didn't like being touched in that manner, nor being treated like prey, even if that's what he was temporarily allowing himself to be. "Don't," he warned Nasser tersely. "I said you could have my blood, I never said you could paw me while you drank it. So do what you're going to do, or else I'll assume you've changed your mind and I will take my leave."

It was only a partially empty threat. Kaname was getting seriously uneasy. Nasser couldn't kill him without severe repercussions. He was counting on that, more than any real faith in the other vampire's sense of honor, to keep him alive once Nasser had his fangs in him. But if the other Pureblood kept up this unsettling behavior, then deal or no deal, he was going to beat a strategic retreat out of there and pay up another time when he could be in more control of the location and surroundings. They _were _purebloods and that cut both ways, maybe this time he'd let Nasser be the one having to decide whether or not stopping him was worth a fight.

Nasser seemed to sense his prey's mood and backed off a little. His hands slid to hold the boy's shoulders instead as his head dipped down to the slender, graceful curve of the young neck.

Kaname clenched his fists and closed his eyes as he felt the other man's hot, wet mouth licking and sucking on the side of his neck. One of Nasser's hands slid behind him, lightly stroking his back. He felt the sharp points of Nasser's fangs delicately grazing his skin and it took a lot of strength to repress a shiver at the sensation. This was disgusting and he wanted it to be over.

"Mmm..." Nasser hummed against the other pureblood's skin. "You know, here's the funny thing, Kaname. There were no limits put on what I could do to you in our wager... you just agreed to be mine."

Something in Nasser's tone froze Kaname's blood in his veins. He didn't have time to understand yet what the other man meant, but he already knew he didn't like it. Suddenly, his keen senses caught the faint, but distinct scent of blood. It was not his, Nasser hadn't bitten him yet, but it _was _familiar. Immediately, he tensed and started to draw back, danger flaring in his senses as he became wary of a trap. His aura darkened and in a moment the house would have been shaken by quite a serious shockwave... but Nasser was too prepared to allow something like that to happen. It was already far too late for the young pureblood to escape him.

Even as Kaname started to tense, he felt a quick, sharp jab of pain at the base of his neck. For a moment he thought he'd been bitten, but it wasn't Nasser's fangs which had pierced him. It was a hypodermic needle which Nasser had pulled from his sleeve behind the young pureblood's back while Kaname was distracted by what was being done to his neck.

Kaname knew an intense moment of searing, fiery pain as the hunter poison entered his system, feeling as if it was boiling the very blood in his veins. The poisoned tranquilizer was incredibly fast acting, as it had to be, considering the deadliness of its intended quarry. A lifeless, leaden numbness followed immediately on the heels of the incapacitating pain and Kaname found himself wavering on his feet, his limbs suddenly heavy, his muscles going slack. The world was going soft and grey around the edges like an vignetted photograph. Everything but the sound of his own thudding heartbeat became muffled.

Unable to support himself, Kaname sagged against Nasser, who was quickly dissolving into a surreal blur of colors and disjointed shapes. His head rested limply against the larger man's chest, but the voice under his ear seemed to be coming from very far away.

"What a pity they had to spoil our fun so quickly. I told them to take care of your driver and your praetorian discretely, but apparently one of them caused some trouble. The girl, I'll wager. I had a feeling she'd be a nuisance if not dealt with immediately."

Kaname could only vaguely register what was being said. The blood... he knew whose blood that was, although he hadn't realized that Nasser even knew she had been following them. _"Seiren..." _he mumbled without really meaning to, lights beginning to dance behind his eyes as the world faded away.

Naturally, he'd not been entirely stupid. He'd not come out here with Nasser _completely _alone. He'd known his bodyguard was following them discretely the whole way here. She was young, but she was already quite good at what she did and was one of the few people he could trust, since the guards Ichiou arranged for him were always more like jailers. Seiren could not be near when he was at home with the Ichijos, but she often shadowed him when he went out into the world. She was a subordinate, not a friend, and he'd probably never exchanged more than a handful of words at a time with her, but she'd been a part of his life for almost as long as he could remember.

In the dazed grip of the drug, Kaname felt a tug of remorse for having gotten not only himself, but others involved in this mess as well. _"Don't... hurt..." _he couldn't finish, the words wouldn't form in his brain, much less on his lips.

Nasser stroked his hair. "Really, Kaname... you shouldn't worry about the servants at a moment like this. It's she who has failed in her duty you, she deserves to die for that. But you're both so terribly young, I suppose I did rather have an unfair advantage. I tell you what, as a gift to you, if she's not already dead I'll make sure they don't kill her, all right? Now just relax... don't fight it, that's right..."

Nasser was still speaking, saying something else... but Kaname could no longer hear him. The drug brought an unnatural calm along with the deadening of his senses, yet even so, a small, sharp slice of fear and defeat cut through Kaname's fading consciousness just before it winked out completely. He felt sure that Nasser must intend to kill him after all, and who was going to protect Yuki then?

_I'm sorry... _


	17. Hell Remembered

_A/N: Okay, this is when the bad stuff starts. *whimpers and clutches poor Kaname protectively* I think by now everyone pretty much knows what's coming, but I cannot stress enough that there are huge warnings on this chapter. __**PLEASE READ AND HEED THIS WARNING!**__ This chapter contains a fairly descriptive dark, painful m/m rape involving Nasser and a younger Kaname. Parts of it were difficult to write, will probably be painful to read and is not for the faint of heart. If you do not like, are disgusted by or get ill at the thought of any of these themes, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER. If you think that reading something like this would make you too sad or hurt or angry, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER. Please! Please, please, please... I'm warning you, this chapter is dark and angsty and I don't want to hurt or traumatize anyone. If you are strong of heart and mind and enjoy a certain level of angsty hurt/comfort where the darkness of the hurt will eventually lead to the most gentle and sweetest of comforts later when all is said and done, then read on. But if you even think you might not like this part, then PLEASE SKIP IT. _

_Kaname's past with Nasser is somewhat involved and is probably going to take several chapters to fully unravel itself. They will all be fairly intense and dark in different ways. I'm not trying to belabor things, trust me, I'm going to get through this as efficiently as possible, but I'm not going to skim over it either because it is a very crucial and central element to the plot. I feel that it is important to show what happened, to bear witness much like Zero is doing, even if it's extremely painful to live through Kaname's abuse with him. It's very much what explains why Kaname reacts to Nasser the way he does now and it reveals a lot about Nasser's character, his motivations and intentions that are vitally important for us to understand in order for the rest of the story to make sense (he's a somewhat complicated man and this is a somewhat complicated story, many of his later actions will seem nonsensical if you don't see exactly where he's coming from). I can't just sum all that up and try to do it all justice any way other than showing what actually happened. So please don't hate me for writing this. *begs* _

_I am not in any way condoning or glamorizing rape or sexual abuse. It's a frightening, horrible thing that can leave you with a lot of mental and emotional scars. Part of this story is about that very thing - how those scars can manifest, and eventually, Kaname's journey to heal and overcome them with Zero's love and support. That being said, I do hope that my fellow angst lovers out there (you all know who you are, LOL) can also enjoy the journey to a certain extent, knowing that I __**promise **__I'm going to give Kaname tons and tons of comfort with Zero when the memories are over. _

_Yes, as the monstrously long author notes attest, I am incredibly nervous about posting this chapter, and the ones to follow. *sweatdrop* Please don't flame me for the content of this chapter, I've explained it and marked it up with warnings as clearly as I can, so if you don't like the idea of what is to come DO NOT READ IT. *begs some more* _

_Also, something else that bears clarifying which Sagakure mentioned to me on my blog: Just so there's no confusion on the timeline, I want to re-iterate that this story takes place a good number of years after the events in the manga, so when I say "ten years ago" it is much further along in time than the "ten years ago" that the manga often references (when Juri and Haruka died, etc). At the time this flashback is taking place, it is still before Cross Academy, but Kaname has been living with the Ichijos for several years already and although Nasser tends to think of him as a child simply because of the whole vampire thing and his own great age, Kaname is in fact more aptly described as a young man at this point. _

_Okay, I will quit rambling nervously now and get on with it. I hope, if you are still reading this after all the warnings, that you enjoy the chapter. Thanks for reading. Review Responses are in my forum._

**Chapter Seventeen: "Hell Remembered"**

Kaname awoke slowly. His head ached and he felt weak, the kind of weakness that came from his natural power being inhibited in some way. His first thought, before consciousness had fully returned, was that he had managed to set Ichiou off again and earned himself another stay in the "safe" room in his Guardian's basement. _Safe_ only in that it inhibited his powers and kept others safe from _him _of course. Although naturally, to hear Ichiou tell it, it was all for the sake of keeping him from _"harming himself"_ during his _"recurrent bouts of_ _destabilizing depression" _in the wake of his parents' death.

As his awareness continued to grow, however, Kaname quickly realized that he was not in the familiar cell. The smell was all wrong, and the surface under him was much too soft. Like a swimmer surfacing from the depths of a lake, the young vampire shed the last vestiges of his semi-lucid state and remembrance of the events proceeding his unconsciousness returned in a rush.

_Nasser's study. Seiren's blood. The needle, the poison, the treachery... _

Kaname became instantly alert, or at least, as alert as he could force himself to be in his current state. He did not open his eyes just yet or stir a muscle, however, because he was also now aware that wherever he was, he was not alone. He could both hear and smell Nasser nearby. Before giving away his return to consciousness, Kaname wanted a chance to assess the situation.

He wasn't dead yet, which mean that there was still something Nasser wanted from him other than to just drain him dry. Politically, Kaname's name had some importance, although in reality his influence was currently very limited due to his circumstances. He was privy to some information of a sensitive nature about various things, but nothing that he could think of which would do his captor any good. He really wasn't sure what Nasser hoped to gain from him. Although, it was quite possible that the older pureblood was simply waiting for him to wake up before killing him. He felt sure that someone like Nasser would much prefer a live, conscious victim to taunt, like a cat playing with a mouse while they were slowly devoured. Dismal as it was, that was currently the theory that made the most sense.

Kaname's senses were dulled by the drugs still in his system, but not so much that he couldn't get a decent idea of his surroundings without having to open his eyes. It was a large room, but not too large. No hard echoes, so it was probably furnished and carpeted. Nasser was somewhere off to his right several yards away. He could hear the other vampire's breathing and the clink of something glass being lifted from a metal tray. Nasser was probably getting himself something to drink, Kaname could smell the dry, delicate bouquet of an expensive wine.

Kaname was laying on something soft. A bed, maybe, or a couch... no, a bed, he felt a silky material under his back that was probably sheets. His hands were stretched over his head. Cool metal and leather encircled his wrists, and from the faint buzz they caused against his skin, he already knew that the restraints were of an anti-vampire nature. His skin felt chilled, and Kaname realized with some mortification that wherever the hell he was, he was naked. _Great. Just great. _It was unsettling, but also irritating. More of Nasser's little mind games no doubt, showing his victim just how powerless and vulnerable he was.

Nasser smiled as he poured himself a glass of wine and set the bottle back down. He savored the scent of the libation for a moment and took a sip before glancing towards the bed where Kaname lay captive. "I know you're awake," he commented conversationally. "Your breathing changed. If you've finished assessing your situation, feel free to open your eyes and see what added help they can give. I'm sure you want to look around for anything you can use, test the strength of your bonds and see whether or not you can make anything implode with your mind... like, for instance, me. Please go right ahead, might as well get that over with up front."

Nasser took another sip of his wine, cupping the bowl of the glass in his palm and watching Kaname over the rim as the boy's dark eyes opened and glared silently at him. He thought Kaname's eyes were fascinating. Sometimes they appeared a dark garnet color and sometimes they were almost chocolate in hue, depending on the lighting. Earlier, in his study, they'd been brown, but here, in his bedroom, they were carmine with anger. They weren't red in a vampiric manner, it was simply their natural color, and it was quite appealing.

Kaname's gaze darted briefly around the room, confirming his earlier impressions and cataloging the details of the lavishly furnished space at a glance. It was beautifully appointed and laid out, but he saw it only with an eye only for what might be useful to him, rather than any real appreciation of the interior design. There were no windows and only one door. They were probably still on Nasser's rented estate, somewhere in the interior of the house... but he couldn't be sure. He could have been moved anywhere after he was unconscious.

Even as he scanned his surroundings, Kaname kept Nasser in his periphery vision, watching his body language, wary of the threat he represented. Much as he hated basically doing exactly as the older vampire had said, there wasn't much else he could do, so he went ahead and tested the strength of the manacles around his wrists and the chains which he could now see were fastened to the ornate wood and wrought-iron frame of the bed's headboard, which in turn was secured to the wall. The cuffs were sturdy silver circles reinforced by thick, black leather bondage cuffs that distributed the pressure on his wrists more evenly. There were various buckles and rings embedded in the cuffs that would allow them to be attached in different ways or to different places. Kaname had never seen restraints like these before and he didn't know that that was what they were for, but somehow they still managed to look vaguely unsettling.

Several hard yanks that made the cuffs bite into his wrists and rattled the headboard, but did little else, told him that the combination of the drugs in his system and the anti-vampire chains were more than enough to keep him right where he was for the moment. A few frustrated moments trying to make Nasser's head explode, or even crack his wine glass, confirmed the rest of his current impotency. He'd had to try, even though he had already known what the result would be. Nasser would have been a fool to _not_ make sure he was thoroughly secured, and he was already painfully aware that Nasser Ardon was not a fool.

Nasser finished his wine and set the glass down on the small end table which held the bottle. Kaname noted that he had changed clothes since they had been together earlier. In place of the outfit he had been wearing, Nasser was now dressed much more casually in a dark, copper colored robe that was more like a caftan than the kimonos and dressing gowns with which Kaname was familiar. Intricate geometric swirls of lighter colored embroidery decorated the ornate garment, accentuating Nasser's vaguely exotic looks. His long, curly hair was no longer pulled back in a ponytail and fell free across his shoulders. The color of his garment brought out the copper highlights in his hair and the vaguely coppery tone of his skin. He saw Kaname studying him, and his smile widened a little.

"Now would be the part where you get indignant, and demand to know what I want... perhaps tell me that I won't get away with treating you like this," Nasser said smoothly as he moved closer to the bed, now standing beside it.

Kaname lifted his chin defiantly and struggled up a little more, so that he was now sitting with his back resting against the headboard and there was less pressure on his arms. He was trying to put himself in a less helpless position, even though that wasn't really possible. "I doubt you would do something this bold if you _didn't _think you could get away with it," he said coldly, refusing to follow the script this time. "And I already have a pretty good idea of what you want." _And like hell I'm going to give it to you. I won't be your mouse. You can kill me, you son of a bitch, but you'll not see me begging and squirming before the likes of you. _

Nasser's eyes danced with amusement. "Oh you do, do you? I wonder..." The elder vampire smiled down at the captive so invitingly chained to his bed. All vampires were beautiful and purebloods even more so than the rest. But it had to be admitted that Kaname Kuran was a deliciously perfect specimen, even among their kind. The soft, graceful features, the long, deceptively slender but powerful limbs, the silky dark hair lightly caressing his porcelain skin and those smoldering garnet eyes... it was quite a nice picture. Once again, Nasser found himself drawn to the boy's eyes. To most people they would seem so guarded and closed, but to an older, more experienced pureblood like Nasser they read like an open book. He liked what he read there.

_Beautiful..._ Nasser smiled in cool appreciation, his fingers dropping down to brush lightly up the inside of Kaname's thigh. He truly was a prince among vampires, deserving of the Kuran name. For his looks, anyway. The boy still had so much to learn about everything else. Getting caught like he had was a novice mistake. Nasser would have to make sure that he taught the boy a suitably memorable lesson to help him avoid such a blunder in the future. After all, not everyone Kaname crossed would have a reason to want to keep him alive, and Nasser didn't want anything happening to him too soon.

Kaname, his body already wound tight as a coiled spring due to his helpless and compromising position, jerked slightly at the light caress, scowling in rage and disgust. He tried to pull away from Nasser's touch, scooting back until his hips hit the base of the headboard and he could go no further. The chains on his wrists clanked softly as his hands twisted ineffectually in their bonds. He didn't really have anywhere to escape to and all he succeed in doing was cornering himself fully against the headboard. A moment later, he realized that that had probably been Nasser's intention all along as the other pureblood knelt on the mattress in the space that Kaname had just vacated. He knelt casually between Kaname's legs, hands coming to rest on the headboard on either side of Kaname's head, placing the young vampire in the distinctly uncomfortable position of being unable to try to struggle or take any action against his captor without ending up rubbing his humiliatingly naked body against the other's silky robes.

Kaname had too much pride to make a spectacle of himself like that, especially knowing that it was probably what Nasser wanted. So he remained perfectly still, although his heart was thudding strangely and his eyes promised murder as they glared up at the other pureblood.

Nasser drank up the look in his captive's eyes with pleasure. In vampire terms, Kaname was so painfully young... it was intoxicating. There were so few young purebloods these days, and none who could provide any kind of serious challenge to one who had lived as many millennia as Nasser had. Indeed, there were precious few of any age who could provide him with anything even remotely close to a challenge. Except, as it turned out, Kuran. This boy was more than a challenge... he was a formidable adversary who had been making quite the nuisance of himself as he cut so skillfully, if ill-advisedly, into Nasser's affairs and business deals.

How incredibly close this... this _child_ had come to besting him in what should have been a ridiculously simple matter for someone with Nasser's power and resources had been a wake-up call that jarred the elder man from his well-earned apathy. He'd almost forgotten when it felt like to have to fight for something... to have to struggle and plan rather than just reach out and take. Love for the thrill of the hunt was embedded deep in his vampire blood, but it had been a long, long time since he had found anything truly thrilling or any prey worth hunting. Then Kaname had shown up.

Normally, Nasser had little patience or mercy for meddlers and competition, but he actually found himself respecting Kuran's audacity and skill. He had known that the boy was... well, a _boy_, but he hadn't been entirely able to believe that his shrewd, calculating adversary was in fact this much of a child until they finally met in person. Now, of course, in this situation, it was quite obvious. Every line of Kaname's exposed body screamed his youth, as did the vulnerable thread of fear that he was striving so hard to conceal behind his smoldering eyes.

"How old are you, Kaname...?" he inquired with an openly condescending smirk. His hand traveled languidly up the boy's side, examining the feeling of the strong, developing muscles hidden beneath the pale skin.

Kaname chose not to answer, his eyes darkening at the condescension on the other's face. "Keep your hands off me or I _will_ kill you," he replied instead. His voice wasn't as completely steady and expressionless as he would have liked, but the dark aura he was putting off, even despite his weakened state, definitely conveyed his ire.

Nasser grinned. The look Kaname was giving him could probably induce heart attacks in some people, but the boy was up against someone currently way out of his league. If Kaname had wanted to annoy him, he should have stayed silent, but the young pureblood was much easier to manipulate now that he was so far out of his comfort zone. Both hands now slid slowly up and down Kaname's smooth sides and across his hips, causing the boy to squirm uncomfortably and press uselessly back against the carved wooden panel of the headboard behind him. He jerked at his chains in frustration... and fear. Nasser could _smell_ his fear. He inhaled deeply, dragging it into his lungs like cigarette smoke or perhaps more aptly, like a potent aphrodisiac, because that's what it was to him. His eyes glittered.

"I don't want to hear that from someone who's not serious. And you're not, because you're not enough of a man or a vampire yet to kill me," Nasser said silkily, sounding faintly amused. "Give it a few centuries, Kaname. Then _maybe_ you'll have a chance." He let one hand remain resting on Kaname's hip while the other slid up to play absently with the curls of hair lying against his slender neck. Kaname jerked his head away. Nasser slapped him hard enough to leave a handprint his cheek, but his expression didn't change, not even registering annoyance.

The handprint remained. It would fade, but very slowly because Kaname's natural healing was being retarded by the same drugs that were sapping his strength.

"If you want to live long enough to become someone who can challenge me, you need to stop making stupid mistakes... like interfering with my business. That wasn't smart, Kaname, it wasn't smart at all," Nasser remonstrated. His eyes were hard and mocking, his tone one that might be used to reprimand an errant school boy.

Kaname's eyes blazed defiantly. Nasser was _lecturing _him? What a moron. "The only _mistake_ I made was underestimating your callus ruthlessness, Nasser. I didn't think you'd kill your own lover just to get to me. Believe me, I won't make that mistake again," the young pureblood said coldly, a clear look of disdain etched in his stormy eyes. Nasser was dishonorable scum in his book. Dangerous scum, but scum nevertheless, and his gaze said so clearly.

"No... I would be disappointed if you did," Nasser replied with a dark little smile. It was precious that Kaname found his actions offensive, and seemed to think that his words about them were insulting. He had _so _much to learn.

Nasser's hands slid back to Kaname's sides, enjoying the soft, taut sensation of his skin. They traveled down his hips and then up along the back of his thighs, hooking at the knees and settling Kaname's legs more firmly on either side of the larger man's body. "I will stop at nothing to get what I want. Those who must die are of no consequence. It's an honor beyond what they could ever dream of that their deaths might serve me. You don't yet really appreciate what it means, to be one of our kind, do you?"

Nasser dipped his head and deliberately trailed his tongue and teeth along the side of the younger vampire's neck. "We are the pinnacle of creation, of evolution. We are that which nature perfected. The entirety of life on this planet lives and breathes only to serve us, whether they know it or not. It is our _right... _but one of which you must be worthy." Nasser pinned Kaname's knee with his elbow, trapping it against his side. The silky fabric of his robe rubbed exotically against the boy's inner thigh as he leaned forward a little more, body brushing up ever so slightly against that of his captive. "And you've a long way to go."

Kaname was trying not to react. He'd obviously figured out by now that Nasser enjoyed watching him squirm or struggle uselessly and wasn't going to give him that pleasure. But Nasser could hear Kaname's heart starting to thud in earnest, his pulse speeding up, betraying the determined calm the boy was trying to put up.

"You're a very formidable young man, Kaname, but you still have a lot to learn. You hesitate to sacrifice pieces, so you will lose the game to those who do not hesitate..." Nasser's mouth trailed across Kaname's shoulder, nipping and licking the smooth skin and delighting in the taste of the other vampire's apprehension, evidenced by the faint sheen of perspiration clinging deliciously to Kaname's body.

When he felt Nasser's mouth at his neck, Kaname tensed up. He thought the other vampire was going to bite him, but he didn't. Instead he just kept teasing, touching and caressing in that incredibly disturbing way which was making Kaname start to worry. The longer Nasser persisted in this game, the more Kaname was starting to wonder what exactly he intended. There were some obvious thoughts that came to mind, given Kaname's current predicament... but he didn't want to go there and was trying hard to keep dismissing them. Denial made it easier to keep the creeping edge of panic gnawing at his chest under control. If Kaname was a woman in this position, that would be different, but he wasn't, so...

Nasser was still lecturing, although it seemed that he was aware of the uncomfortable thoughts skittering through Kaname's mind. "Take Sephira for example," he continued. "She was an able and useful subordinate, but she is replaceable. She served me better as a means to get what I wanted, than she would have by continuing to live. Now you... you would not have sacrificed her in my place, would you? You let sentimentality cloud your judgment regarding those around you. You would not have sacrificed her, therefore you could not foresee that I would do so, _therefore_ you end up where you are right now." Nasser grinned wickedly, lifting his head for a moment in order to see Kaname's face as his hand slid slowly down the boy's stomach, teasing the sensitive, velvety skin below his navel. With slow deliberateness, he found the soft, warm flesh below that and cupped it in his hand.

Kaname was flushing, despite himself. He squirmed again; trying desperately not to react to the despicably and unexpectedly delicious feeling of Nasser's experienced fingers caressing and fondling his unprotected body. _That_ should _not _feel good, he was sure.

"You've got a long way to go to live up to your name, Kuran," Nasser murmured, his lips tracing Kaname's jaw and throat. "But I can help you get there."

"By killing me? There's a _great_ idea. Here's another: maybe you should do us both a favor and save your breath," Kaname growled incredulously, trying to twist his head away, but having nowhere to turn. Nasser was deeply unsettling him. He actually wasn't at all sure anymore that his death was the goal here, but he hoped to maneuver the other pureblood into revealing something about his intentions.

"Kill?" Nasser looked amused as he lifted his head and gazed down at the boy, hands settling on either side of his slim waist. "My dear boy, I've no intention of killing you. After all, our disputes are all business, nothing personal. Do you know how stupidly dangerous it would be for me to kill another pureblood without a _very_ good reason? Especially a Kuran? No... I won't even drink your blood, although I'll admit, it's very tempting."

Kaname looked utterly confused by his last statement, suddenly feeling like the ground had become shifting quicksand beneath him. "But... I thought that's what you wanted."

"Yes," Nasser smiled almost patiently. "You _thought _so. An easy assumption to make considering how the masses always hunger for us. I let you think so, and I said, it is actually very tempting. I am certain you are delicious, and I could get a lot of power from you. But I don't _need _your power. You would be a mere drop in the bucket, you have no idea how many purebloods I have drunk from in my life, Kaname... how many I have drained dry to the last drop. Once there were many of us, and life was very different." There was a dark, faraway look in the elder vampire's eyes and for a moment Kaname could see in them the fleeting glimpse of a past beyond his understanding or knowledge, a glimpse of the true, unimaginable tally of years that added up to Nasser's long life.

"You'll never understand the true thrill of the hunt, until you have set yourself against the most worthy of prey. But trust me that taking your blood now, like this, would be incredibly anti-climactic. Besides, blood is like wine, it improves with age. You're still so young and... _green_..." he murmured, his fingers ghosting up the inside of Kaname's leg again, his thumb slowly following the inner crease where thigh met hip.

Kaname squirmed involuntarily and he laughed. "I think I'll save this vintage for a later date." Lifting his hand, he curled his fingers in the thick hair on the back of Kaname's head. Gripping it painfully tight, he pulled the boy's head back, tipping his chin up. "Make no mistake, I can have _anything_ I want from you, any time I want to take it. Someday, I'll come for your blood, you can count on it. But not today." The falsely patient grin was back again. "I have to leave some sport for later, don't I? Or the game would get terribly dull."

Nasser leaned close, pressing his mouth against the base of Kaname's ear, where his jaw met his neck. "The day I come for your blood, Kaname... is the day I'll be done toying with you, and be ready to kill you. Then I'll just take all of it. How's that sound?" He whispered the promise against the boy's skin before giving a silvery, nerve chilling laugh. "So be glad young one. Be glad that right now all I want from you is... ah, but what _do_ I want?" He straightened up again, gazing down at his captive. "Do you remember what our actual _agreement _was, Kaname? What was it that I said I wanted?"

Kaname didn't have any trouble recalling Nasser's words. _"If I win, I get you." _He did _not _like the strange, twisting snake of apprehension that thinking about those words now set loose in his stomach, and he was not about to repeat them for his tormentor's benefit.

Nasser could clearly see that Kaname remembered perfectly well, but chose to pretend to accept his silence. "No? Well, keep thinking, it will come back to you, I'm sure. You'll see that in the end, I'm only taking exactly what you already promised me. You really should have been more careful, you don't yet fully understand the way this game is played, do you? Then again... I suppose I can't blame you too much. I hear your guardian keeps you on a pretty tight leash. Doubtless, he doesn't want you to learn because he knows how quickly you'll surpass him. It's a pity, really, losing your parents early like that and now having no one to teach you what you need to know. Too bad they didn't think your life was worth watching over enough to delay their suicides a few more years..."

Mentioning Kaname's dead parents got the desired reaction and Kaname's eyes flashed with fire. Despite the 'official' story that Nasser had obviously heard, _he _knew his parents had been murdered. They hadn't abandoned him intentionally, they _hadn't._ He spit in Nasser's face and wriggled more fiercely, yanking at the chains on his wrists hard enough to make them cut into his skin.

"You're really starting to annoy me, Nasser. Is there a point in here somewhere, or are you just that in love with the sound of your own voice?" the young vampire seethed quietly. He was off balance and more frightened than he wanted to admit, but it was easier to show his anger and impatience. As mislead as Nasser may have been about his parents, unfortunately, the older vampire's words about his guardian, Asato Ichijo, rang way too true. Kaname already knew that that old creep would do anything to try and keep his pureblood ward under his control for as long as possible.

Nasser looked amused. It was rather easy to push the boy's buttons, he had kind of hoped he would be more of a challenge. The older pureblood wiped the saliva from his face with one hand and calmly backhanded Kaname a second time, slamming his head back against the headboard and splitting his lip.

Blood trickled slowly down Kaname's chin from his swollen lip and Nasser's pupils dilated visibly at the scent and the sight. This was going to be so much fun.

"You shouldn't show me your impatience, Kaname. Impatience is weakness and it puts you at a disadvantage. You're reacting _exactly_ like I want you to. Even when you think you are defying me, you are merely moving to the steps I've laid for you. _This_ is power. _This_ is control. Your enemies dance into your hands, they snarl and rage, all the while tangling themselves up within your webs and they think it was all _their_ idea. This _is _the point, Kaname..." Nasser grinned and leaned forward, his sculpted lips and skillful tongue licking the blood from Kaname's chin and lip. "This is the skill you lack, and why it was foolish of you to challenge me when you were unequipped for the contest."

Kaname felt strangely unable to struggle or pull away as Nasser slowly and lazily traced his mouth and chin with lips and tongue. Fighting would have done no good, but there was a deeper reason for his confusing complacence that he only barely grasped. Nasser was leaning very heavily upon him with his will, keeping the young pureblood more docile than he otherwise would have been. With the drugs in his system robbing him of his ability to use his own will to fight back, Kaname was left defenseless. Nasser was also beginning to flood the air with his seductive pheromones, further clouding the boy's head.

Kaname's breath came raggedly as he stared up at the vaulted ceiling over the bed, trying to ignore the weird sensations that Nasser was evoking in him and the odd, intense curiosity that his words piqued. Kaname had a very bright, intelligent mind and even under these very, _very_ undesirable circumstances he couldn't help feeling drawn to some of what Nasser was saying. Because as much as the older vampire was doing it to torment him... he still had a couple of perfectly valid points. The emotional, angry part of Kaname didn't want to admit that, but the purely rational and calculating part of him knew it was true.

Kaname knew both from reputation and from his short, abysmal failure in matching wits against the older vampire that Nasser was extremely good at making sure things came out exactly as he wanted them. The man was a consummate puppet master and a brilliant strategist. Kaname had tried to out-maneuver him and failed; now Nasser was candidly telling him exactly why he'd failed. The younger vampire would be an idiot not to pay attention, especially if Nasser really didn't intend to kill him.

As much as Kaname wanted to reject everything and anything the other vampire said, he couldn't, not entirely. He did want to be able to be that in control, to be able to lay out plans where everything and everyone would eventually come together to achieve the end he desired. The safety of a certain person very dear to him depended on it, as did the future of the world he wanted to create. He wasn't totally adverse to considering the things he was being told, if only Nasser would just... _stop_... Kaname's body shivered of its own accord as Nasser's silk robe rubbed back and forth against his thigh. _If only he'd just stop doing_ _**that**_... Kaname was already afraid and angry, now he was also starting to feel dizzy, excited and confused.

Nasser was pleased by Kaname's reactions, both to his caresses and his words. Kaname was intrigued despite himself and Nasser could tell. The boy could sense power, knowledge and strength and he wanted them. It was the natural desire of all purebloods, made much more endearing by the boy's inexperience and naiveté. Nasser smiled as he worried Kaname's lower lip slowly between his teeth, his fangs lightly scraping the sensitive skin. He had not overestimated the boy then. Excellent. A fool would discount everything because of the source and the manner in which it was being delivered. Kaname may be young and untried, but he was definitely not a fool. He could be taught... he could be molded.

Nasser savored that prospect, because he too sensed power. He could almost _feel _the untapped well of it, deeper than he could imagine, right here beneath his hands. He was drawn to the raw, untrained vibrations emanating from the youth in his bed. Even now, with Kaname weak and defenseless, he could still feel it in his essence, as if somehow it clung to the boy's very soul and not just his physical body. It was captivating, like watching the birth of a young titan. Nasser was very old and he had drunk the blood of scores of their own kind, making him insanely powerful... and yet, he knew already that the boy beneath him would be his match someday. _No..._ given time and the proper training, this boy would _surpass_ him someday. Ordinarily, one might think that this prospect would concern or anger the older pureblood, but such was not at all the case. Improbable as it may seem, Nasser found the thought deeply attractive. _Finally_... someone who could present him a real challenge. Someone who would one day be worthy to match against him in the ultimate game. It sent shivers of intense excitement down his spine, the likes of which he'd not felt in over a thousand years.

Nasser had lived so long by now that he found the once exciting game of life and dominance to be almost unbearably boring and meaningless because he was constantly playing against amateurs. Potential like Kuran's should not be wasted. Nasser's hands slid possessively back to the boy's slim hips. He and Kaname shared a common destiny, he could feel it in his very blood. He would shape this young titan, he would unchain his potential and mold him into something the likes of which the world had never seen. He would build an opponent worthy of destroying.

"You don't challenge someone like me unless you're prepared and equipped to fight to win. And when you lose... then you must be prepared to accept the consequences, Kaname. Someday, those consequences might be your death... but not yet. I'm not in the business of killing _children_. Especially children with so much... interesting potential..." Nasser's smooth, skillful fingers glided through the short, curly hair below Kaname's navel again, making the young pureblood suck in a sharp, unintentional breath.

Kaname did not like being called a child, but he especially did not like the path Nasser's hand was taking, nor the implications that were beginning to become impossible to ignore. Nasser's touch was making his skin crawl and his heart hammered against his ribs despite himself.

"I could teach you a lot, Kaname. I can show you how to know what others will do before they themselves know; I can show you power that knows no limits." His voice was quiet now, seductive, his eyes almost frighteningly intense.

Kaname felt like he couldn't breathe as those intense eyes locked on him. Nasser's hand pressed against his chest, feeling Kaname's wildly pounding heart as he held his gaze. Kaname flushed deeper, not knowing why he did. The weight of the other vampire's gaze was heavy and piercing as if he was even now aware of everything going through the young pureblood's mind. As if he knew how reluctantly tempted Kaname was to find out what the price of this knowledge would be.

Nasser finally smiled. The boy was hooked. "But first... I think you must learn the consequences of losing. I intend to punish you, Kaname, partially for having the gall to cross me... but mostly for doing so when you weren't really prepared to do whatever it took to see things through. I will have to make a very memorable impression, as I don't want you to forget this," he purred, and was rewarded by a small hitch in the rise and fall of the chest under his hand.

Nasser pulled his hand away and straightened up, fingers going to the small, ornate buttons at the neck of his robe as he undid them with intentional deliberation. "Are you a virgin, Kaname?" he inquired.

The query completely surprised and flustered the younger pureblood, although he tried hard not to show it. "I don't see that that is any of your business," he growled softly, now being purposefully dense, since his mind had already started to grasp the realization he desperately didn't want to accept. Some part of him had probably known all along, but he'd denied it as long as he could.

Nasser's smile widened slightly, completely predatory as he rose up on his knees, enough to pull his long robe out from under him and off, over his head. "So the answer is yes, then. My, my... you _have_ led a sheltered life. I was already quite experienced by your age, but that's all right, I much prefer it this way."

Nasser was completely naked under his robe and Kaname couldn't help the way his gaze was immediately drawn across the powerful, perfect build that would have made any athlete weep in sheer envy. His eyes caught on Nasser's equally impressive, and already very prominent arousal and he felt a strange spike of sick panic clawing through his chest, even as his pale face continued to burn with intense embarrassment.

_No... oh hell no... this was not happening...! _

"It's always entertaining, being the first," Nasser commented with a smirk. He had moved back slightly when he removed his robe, no longer trapping Kaname's legs as he had been before, and Kaname took advantage of that. Moving lightening quick, he brought both feet together and kicked the older vampire as hard as he could in the chest and face. He felt bones snap under his heels and he knew he'd broken the other vampire's neck. Probably ribs and his nose too. _Good._

Nasser was thrown backwards, not just off the bed but across the room. He slammed into the far wall and slid to the floor, blood running freely from his nose, head hanging at an awkward angle. Kaname was not stupid enough to think he was going to be out of it very long. Didn't matter if he'd broken every bone in Nasser's body – which he hadn't – Nasser was a pureblood, he would heal swiftly, even from the broken neck.

Kaname twisted around quickly, kneeling and trying to get at the cuff on his right wrist. But his hands were trapped, spread eagled on the iron grillwork around the wooden panels of the headboard and no matter how he twisted; he couldn't get close enough to either of the cuffs to even see how they locked, much less try to get them off. Kaname's pulse was hammering in his ears. _He had to get out of here!_ He thrashed at the bonds with his mind, but his control slipped and slid elusively from his grasp. He struggled fiercely, desperately, wondering if he could withstand the blood loss of severing his hands while in his current state, in order to escape. They'd re-grow eventually, but the problem was, he had no way to accomplish the task in the first place.

Nasser recovered much too quickly. Kaname didn't even know it had happened. One moment the pureblood was limp against the wall, the next Kaname's struggles were cut short by powerful hands and an unyielding brick wall of a body that spun him around and slammed him back against the headboard he was chained to hard enough to make the middle panel crack, the raw wood splinters digging into Kaname's back. He struggled for air as a fist closed punishingly tight around his throat. Nasser regarded him with unnervingly composed eyes. Only a faint hint of a flash in their dark depths gave any indication that he might be angry, and yet the dark aura swirling around him made Kaname's racing pulse pop into overdrive.

Slowly, deliberately, Nasser wiped away the blood from under his nose. He'd already healed from the injuries that had been had inflicted. They had been troublesome, but not too severe for someone like him since Kaname currently lacked the full use of his strength. He did not release Kaname's throat, keeping the boy's air cut off. If it was possible, he appeared even more aroused now than before, the pain and blood goading him to an increased state of anticipation.

"Touché, Kaname... I suppose I deserved that bit of pain for underestimating you. You see, that was _my_ lesson. But you didn't think things through, did you? You knew that move wouldn't kill me, but you didn't have a plan for how to get away before I recovered. You acted on emotion, not on logic. So in the end, that was a rather foolish move, don't you think? I'm disappointed; continued mistakes like this are beneath you. Your training really has been remiss."

Kaname's vision was swimming, his lungs and throat burning as Nasser kept him in the choke hold for far longer than was safe. You couldn't choke a pureblood to death, although you could probably render a drugged one unconscious that way for a time. Kaname could go a considerable time without air, but Nasser intentionally pushed his drugged body to its limits. Yellow and black blotches swam before Kaname's eyes and his lungs burned with agony. Just because it wouldn't necessarily kill him, didn't mean he couldn't experience the full, crushing torture of suffocation.

The elder pureblood released him a few moments before Kaname would be in danger of passing out. That would be much too easy an escape to be allowed. "I think we can agree you have earned yourself a very hard lesson tonight, yes?" the pureblood's eyes were dark with threatening promise and, perhaps just as frightening, eager delight.

He gripped Kaname's upper arms tightly, holding him pinned against the headboard as he pressed his body fully against Kaname's. His hips forced the boy's legs apart as he rubbed his hard, aching flesh against Kaname's groin.

Kaname's head tipped back against the headboard with a strangled groan of protest and something far less forgivable as inexplicable electricity shot through him. He gasped for air, his head still spinning, Nasser's pheromones flooding his senses as he gulped down ragged lungfuls of tainted oxygen. The hot, hard flesh pressing so intimately against him, Nasser's granite body molding to his... it was deeply, utterly disturbing and yet despite himself, it was also painfully erotic. To his horror, Kaname's body was threatening to respond automatically and he didn't know why. He had never felt sexually attracted to a man before and he sure as _hell_ didn't want Nasser to be doing this to him. It was horrible, frightening, filthy and _disgusting!_ Yet he was having this weird, stupid physical reaction he couldn't seem to control.

Unreasonable panic raked its sharp claws up and down his spine. He could barely explain why exactly but the idea of this... the way Nasser obviously intended to violate him... for some reason it seemed unbearable and terrifying, not to mention humiliating.

Nasser was entirely aware of this as he savored the delightful feeling of the boy's warm, soft flesh. Deliberately, he rocked back and forth, stroking Kaname's body with his, forcing the younger vampire to respond to the stimulation. Nasser was well aware how naturally sensual the pureblood body was and how to manipulate the heady influence of his own pheromones. He was actually something of an expert in that area.

Kaname started hardening despite himself and he twisted futilely in Nasser's grip, the splintered wood behind him digging painfully into the small of his back. "I didn't agree to this!" he protested, his sore throat protesting around the words as he tried to sound more angry than afraid, not quite succeeding in keeping his voice from trembling a little. "Get off me! This wasn't part of the wager!"

Nasser looked amused. "Of course it was. Haven't you been listening? The terms were that I could take what I wanted from you, remember? That I could _have _you. _You _assumed that I wanted your blood, that's not my fault. Come now, it's undignified to renege on a deal after the fact. I thought you said you didn't do that."

Kaname knew Nasser was right, it was his own fault and the pureblood had simply given him plenty of rope with which to hang himself, but that didn't mean he couldn't hate the older pureblood fiercely. "Don't touch me!" He bucked and struggled in earnest, twisting and squirming powerfully in Nasser's grip despite the drugs. He didn't want this. He truly, urgently, _desperately_, didn't want this! There'd been a certain amount of pressure on the young pureblood to procreate ever since he was old enough to do so, but he'd always meant to save himself for Yuki... when she was old enough and if she wanted him of course. He didn't care if he was trying to go back on a deal at this point. Nasser obviously had no honor and this was not something he'd _ever_ meant to bargain away.

Nasser slapped him almost hard enough to fracture his cheekbone and grabbed his chin, stilling the boy and forcing him to look at him. "You need to start being smart about this, Kaname," he said quietly. His eyes were hard and bright, intense with lust. "I do not intend to let you back out now and you are not in a position to make me. The simple fact, is that I am _going _to fuck you."

The word had a hard, harsh, ugly ring to it as it slid deliberately from Nasser's tongue and Kaname almost flinched at the sound. The clawing panic in his chest became suffocating and his stomach churned. He already knew that, but hearing it spelled out seemed somehow even more intensely degrading and frightening.

"Now, think through your options, Kaname. Is there _really_ any way for you to get out of this?" Nasser raised his eyebrows questioningly.

Kaname hesitated for a moment, his mind obviously racing furiously. Nasser thought it was rather to the boy's credit that he was able to actually attempt to think through his options at this moment, despite the obvious emotional turmoil he was in and the way Nasser's incredibly thick, heavy arousal was digging firmly into his stomach.

"There isn't, is there?" Nasser said after having given Kaname a moment to reach that same conclusion himself. "You are mine until I choose to release you. So, these then are your options: You can resist, and continue to rack up worsening punishment for yourself. You can fight me, and I will be forced to damage your beautiful body severely. With your healing factor diminished, I'm not sure you can imagine just how horribly I can make you suffer or how hard it will be for you to take continued punishment when once you have been hurt that badly." Nasser's matter of fact voice clashed with his dark words. He might as well have been offering Kaname a choice between rice or noodles. But there was no doubt he was completely serious. In a way, it was more frightening than if he'd been angry or threatening. Looking into his eyes, Kaname knew that this vampire could tear him apart and feel no remorse whatsoever. Nasser had absolutely no conscience. The only thing that mattered to him was getting what he wanted and playing his game by whatever twisted and mysterious rules he himself had supplied.

"Or, you can accept your situation, accept the consequences of your failures, accept your punishment and cooperate. I won't pretend that I won't hurt you, I fully intend to. How _badly_ it has to hurt, however, depends on how swiftly you learn to handle it and deal with the situation. I promise I will not damage you seriously. I'm not suggesting that you enjoy it, at least any more than you can help..." Nasser's hand slid between their bodies and curled tightly around Kaname's semi-aroused flesh, stroking him slowly, firmly. "In fact, it will probably be a more effective lesson if you hate every moment of it... but I don't think you will. Although you may feel better if you try to tell yourself that you do." The last was murmured with a wicked, knowing smile.

Kaname swallowed harshly around his bruised throat and the raw, pulsing lump of helplessness and resigned fear that had settled there. _Damn_ Nasser for being such a bastard. _Damn_ him for being right and _knowing _he was right. He bit his lower lip hard as the older vampire's warm, relentless hand teased and pleasured a response from his body.

"Logically, the course which ends with you less injured makes the most sense. After all... what if I was lying about not wanting to kill you? What if I intend to use you and then dispose of you? You would stand a better chance of coming up with a way to escape that fate and survive if you aren't already half dead," Nasser pointed out with his cool, damnably inescapable logic. "Besides, it's always best to lull your enemy into a false sense of security, perhaps try to find a way to overpower me while I am... distracted by carnal pleasures."

Kaname had no idea what to make of this man. Nasser obviously intended to rape him, but he seemed just as interested in trying to give his captive ideas and strategies for how to deal with the situation. _What the __**hell**__ was his problem? _In the long run though, it hardly mattered, because unfortunately, Nasser had a point. Kaname knew he wasn't getting out of this and despite what his emotions were screaming at him... fighting would only satisfy his pride. The tradeoff wasn't worth whatever paltry satisfaction defiance would garner. He'd gotten himself into this. He'd made the hideous wager that had led him here, even if he'd agreed to it under a misconception. There was no honor to be had in abiding by these despicable terms, but there was really nothing he could do now but take his medicine and hope it would be over quickly. The best... in the end the _only _thing he could do was focus on surviving tonight in the best shape possible. He could worry about picking up the pieces later. As Nasser said, _damn him to hell_, the goal now was to survive and endure. That was the main thing. He had to, because there was someone else whose safety depended on him, and for her, he had to survive.

Schooling his roiling emotions to something slightly more contained, Kaname stopped struggling. His body remained tense as a guitar string, but there was a silent, resigned acceptance written there as he looked away and closed his eyes.

Nasser released Kaname's chin with a satisfied nod. "Wise decision," he said approvingly. He continued stroking between Kaname's legs until he had the younger vampire good and ready. Kaname's eyes remained closed. He was breathing through his teeth, obviously trying to fight the feelings being evoked, but unable to do so.

"Is it what I'm going to do to you that has you scared, or is it the complete loss of control over even your own body that you really fear? I wonder..." Nasser murmured introspectively as his mouth fell back to Kaname's neck, licking and kissing as he rubbed himself back and forth against the other vampire's soft inner thigh for a few moments, savoring the tense, warm, trembling heat of the sensitive skin against his body.

Grabbing Kaname's hips, Nasser pulled him forward on the bed, away from the top of the bed so that the young pureblood was lying on his back. He spread Kaname's thighs with his palms.

Kaname's hands curled into fists above his binds, fingers twisting around the chains, looking for something to hold onto. His chest hitched at the dual sensations of searing heat and gut jolting disgust that coursed through him under Nasser's ministrations. It was so wrong to enjoy this on any level, to feel any sort of pleasure from the loathsome man's touch but he truly couldn't help it, and it filled him with confused self-disgust. Kaname screwed his eyes shut tighter. Suddenly a sharp, blazing pain sliced across his senses and he cried out softly in surprise.

Nasser ruthlessly raked his claw-like fingernails down the inside of Kaname's thigh, deeply scoring the incredibly sensitive flesh. Kaname's eyes flew open and he bit back another sound of pain as Nasser deliberately marked the other thigh in the same manner, seeming pleased with the bleeding lines of his handiwork. He licked the crimson drops from his fingers with relish, giving Kaname a little smile and a shrug.

"A virgin should bleed..." he murmured darkly before he dipped his head to lick away the small crimson trails from Kaname's pale skin, his mouth working slowly back and forth along the raw cuts he'd created. He knew Kaname would bleed in many appropriate ways tonight and he let himself get the urge to sample a little taste of the boy's delicious essence out of his system. Sucking Kaname's cuts didn't really count as taking his blood by anybody's standards, but it was quite enjoyable, especially given the location.

Kaname's hips squirmed on the mussed sheets. He wasn't really struggling, he just couldn't help moving. Nasser's mouth working the painful lines of fire that had been inflicted on such a sensitive area was both agonizing and weirdly stimulating at the same time. He didn't understand. He didn't understand why he could hate this so much, why it could hurt and yet it could still feel good. _What was wrong with him? _

Nasser could have simply taken the boy then and there, but he didn't rush matters. He was not a small man, and Kaname had never done this before. It was going to hurt no matter what, as intended, but Kaname was cooperating and there was no reason for him to be more destructive than necessary. After all, he eventually intended for Kaname to enjoy it as well, since he knew how much that would make the young pureblood hate himself. But of course, pain would have to come before pleasure. Kaname had earned himself some stern punishment and he needed to remember this lesson.

Nasser used a small jar of scented oil from the nightstand as lube. It burned and tingled strangely inside Kaname's body as Nasser slowly and deliberately pushed it into him, breaching him first with one finger and then two. He forced the long digits in deeply, thrusting slowly back and forth to slick the tight, resisting passage.

Kaname really thought he was going to die of shame. The uncomfortable sensation of those fingers penetrating his body was so humiliating and disgusting. It kind of hurt too, especially when the second finger was added and Nasser started stretching him. Why on earth would people do things like this voluntarily? Kaname had no idea... but he didn't like it one bit. He badly wanted this to be over already. Nasser was watching him intently while he did those things to him and Kaname felt his face flushing painfully hot when that damned, knowing gaze slid up towards him while the slender fingers thrust deeper, scissoring inside him in a way that made him squirm and resist the urge to whimper.

Kaname turned his head away, looking across at the opposite wall without really seeing anything in his desire to avoid having to see Nasser. But he couldn't keep his gaze away long, he felt too vulnerable not knowing what was coming next and his eyes were continually drawn back to the other man as if to the scene of a gruesome accident - something that repulsed and horrified you, but drew your attention all at the same time.

Nasser worked the lube in well, stretching Kaname enough to make entry possible, although not nearly enough to prepare him for what was to come. What fun would that be, after all? He'd promised not to damage Kaname severely... he'd never promised he was going to leave him able to walk. Kaname wasn't going to need to be doing any walking for quite a while.

Kaname was trying to think about something other than what was happening, trying to ignore the strange, disturbing sensation of Nasser's fingers. It was uncomfortable, but the pain faded fairly quickly... he almost thought that this might not be quite as bad as he'd feared. Then Nasser removed his fingers and shifted, pushing Kaname's knees back and gripping his hips as he slid his arousal slowly against the other's now oil slicked skin before sliding into position. He intentionally allowed Kaname to feel just exactly how much he was going to be expected to take.

Panic flared again in the back of Kaname's throat and his stomach knotted with agonized butterflies as he felt that thick, blunt tip pressing against him. Partly it was because of the sordid _idea_ of it all, of the act that was to come, and partly it was because Nasser felt so damn inhumanly _huge _as he slid purposefully against him. Kaname couldn't help the shameful, frightened fluttering in his gut nor the equally mortifying thoughts that raced through him along with the pounding, staccato pulse in his ears. _How the hell was _that_ supposed to fit... _there_? _It didn't seem as if physics would allow such a thing and he couldn't even begin to imagine what that would feel like.

Nasser reveled in the stark uncertainty written across Kaname's face and eyes. The boy was so incredibly beautiful... it was going to take a long time for Nasser to get enough of him. Gripping his unwilling young lover's hips tightly, Nasser plunged forward in a swift, merciless move, claiming the body under him as his.

Kaname's spine arched and his head snapped back, a strangled cry escaping him at the hard and unspeakably painful penetration.

To Nasser, it was a delightful reaction, and he took no mercy upon the young pureblood's untried body. He gripped Kaname's knees, forcing his legs to remain spread as he thrust ruthlessly, forcing himself deeper into the tight, incredible heat. He pulled Kaname to him, lifting his hips off the bed, not stopping until Kaname had been made to accommodate all of his significant length and girth.

Kaname had never imagined that something so simple could be so earth shatteringly painful. It hurt. _Badly._ _So badly..._ Kaname clenched his jaw and screwed his eyes shut desperately, trying not to let a shaky sob escape through his teeth as agony flared through him from their joining.

_Stop! Stop... give me a minute... please stop..._ Kaname begged mentally as Nasser continued to move deeper, obviously not content until he had claimed every possible inch he could get. But Kaname refused to speak the plea aloud. He wouldn't give Nasser that satisfaction.

_Crap..._ it felt like Nasser was taking him so deep he was going to spear right through him. Kaname's fingernails bit into his palms hard enough to draw blood. His body clenched and tightened hard, fighting the agonizing intruder. His legs trembled, instinctually fighting to close, to push Nasser away, but they were pinned in the other's strong grasp.

Nasser groaned in pleasure at the sensation of being buried so deeply and gripped so tightly. It was so good it bordered on painful. He withdrew only to thrust in hard once more. Kaname screamed softly, only just choking it off on the end. The boy was nearly hyperventilating, but he was actually handling this quite well all things considered. Nasser was aware how much he was hurting him. Many full grown men would already be begging and pleading for him to stop at this point. There was something uniquely disarming about this particular _kind _of pain, he had found. Nasser's dark eyes slid up to Kaname's.

"I like it like this... I like you tight and resisting. I like knowing it _hurts. _But you will make it easier on yourself if you try to relax into it," he advised in a husky voice as he thrust home harshly once more.

Kaname screamed again and dug his heels into the bed. _Relax into it... _R_elax into THIS? Was Nasser __**insane**__? How in the hell was he supposed to do that? _This was a living nightmare he couldn't escape and his stomach churned. He felt so sick he thought he actually might throw up.

Kaname's body was finally stretching enough to allow Nasser better access and he settled into a swifter, more punishing pace, riding the young pureblood with no concern for anything but his own pleasure and without a shred of compassion. The boy's body was unbelievable and Nasser's chest heaved softly in exertion and exotically overwhelming arousal.

Kaname's heels continued to dig desperately into the mattress, scrabbling and sliding helplessly against the silky sheets as Nasser screwed him ruthlessly. Kaname's head and shoulders banged against the headboard from the force of it and he screamed repeatedly. He couldn't help it. He didn't feel he'd ever been in this much pain. Blood from the rough coupling streaked his thighs and stained the sheets. If this was Nasser's idea of the gentler of the two options he'd been presented with earlier, then Kaname truly did not want to imagine what the older pureblood considered 'significant' damage.

Nasser bent to capture Kaname's lips, drinking his screams and savoring his agony as he kissed him possessively. "Punishment is _supposed_ to hurt, Kaname..." he breathed darkly against the other's skin. "If it was too pleasant, that would hardly be a deterrent, now would it?" Nasser pushed Kaname's right knee further back against his chest, opening the boy wider, allowing Nasser to move more deeply and rapidly.

Kaname writhed on the sheets, hot tears of agony wetting his lashes even as he fought desperately not to let them fall. He couldn't let Nasser have that, couldn't let him see that ultimate expression of vulnerability and weakness. If Nasser wanted him to hurt, he was doing a bang-up job of it, no pun intended.

_It can't last forever... it can't last forever... _the young pureblood told himself over and over as he struggled to endure what was being done to him. But it _felt_ like forever. They were both pureblood vampires and their bodies conformed to no human standards. Nasser rode his young victim brutally for a long time and Kaname's blood freely stained the pale sheets beneath them, his voice growing hoarse from screaming. There was no way Kaname could hold back his tears after a while, the pain was too much, the humiliation and vulnerability too stark and he was too weakened. The hot, salty traitorous drops escaped down his face in pain and shame, fully displaying his helpless vulnerability to his violator.

Nasser had a cruel streak a mile wide. He kept changing pace, changing angle, making sure Kaname's body never had a chance to adapt to what was happening. There was something bone-gnawingly desirable about the desperate, tremulous pitch that Kaname's urgent cries took on when Nasser found yet another new angle to exploit – the way the boy's body scrabbled and writhed on the mattress in the useless, involuntary desire to get away. Kaname's sheer helplessness was beautiful to him in a deeply dark and twisted way. The boy's pain, fear, anger and vulnerability were just as intoxicating as his perfect, youthful body.

After Nasser finally found release in his victim's unwilling body he stilled, resting against Kaname's chest as he caught his breath and savored the lingering sensations of the deeply satisfying climax.

Kaname was trembling. Blood trickled down his chin from where his fangs had punctured his own lower lip several times because he'd been biting it so hard. Nasser was still buried between his legs. His lower body was on fire and the sick, wet, warm sensation of the other vampire's pleasure trickling down to mingle with the blood on his thighs made Kaname's stomach heave. He wanted to tear Nasser's head off and disembowel him slowly... very slowly... but more than anything, Kaname simply wanted out of here. He wanted to run. He wanted to get away somewhere where he could take a bath in acid to try and get Nasser's touch off his skin.

Nasser felt the aborted little jerks of Kaname's heaving nausea under his ear as his head rested on the boy's raggedly rising and falling chest. He shifted so he was leaning on his elbows on either side of Kaname and looked up dispassionately towards the flushed, tearstained face of his victim, which was painted with an appealing tableau of agony, hatred and shame.

"Throw up, and I will add to your punishment. You should be able to control your body better than that," Nasser warned coolly, almost pleasantly. His long fingers traced slowly across Kaname's ribs and he leaned his head over a little, slowly lathing one hard, pale nipple with his lips and mouth.

Kaname swallowed his nausea with difficulty, drawing deep, shuddering breaths in an attempt to keep his stomach calm. Much as he hated to admit it, he desperately didn't want any more of what Nasser considered _punishment_. His whole body trembled. _Not even hell,_ he decided, _could be this bad._

* * *

_Present Time..._

_Lost in the spinning horror of the memories, Zero was almost literally forgetting to breathe. He was so furiously angry it burned like a comet in his chest, choking him, agonizing in its intensity. He felt Kaname's consciousness pulling miserably away from him, trying to retreat back into the dark as if he could blot out his own existence, cringing hopelessly at the sensation of the hunter's anger and entirely misreading its cause. _

_Zero didn't let him pull away. He wrapped Kaname up in a trembling, figurative version of a tight embrace, holding him close and trying for Kaname's sake to rein in his own reactions. "No, don't run... please... I'm sorry, I'm not angry at you, I'm angry at that fucking __**bastard. **__I love you. I love you, Kaname, you don't have to hide, you don't have to carry it all alone. Let me see everything..." _

_Somehow, Zero knew he had to do this. As horrible and painful as it was, as much as he felt he was dying with every image and feeling acutely the remembered pain of his beloved's torment in his own body, he _needed_ to do this. Because this was what Kaname was dealing with, this was all part of the hurt that had driven him to this near mental breakdown, and if sharing his pain and understanding it was the only way to help, than Zero would gladly suffer the horror of the experience. He only wished that he could somehow go back in time and stop these things from happening. He wished he could go back and _kill_ Nasser... or even just take Kaname's place instead, anything but watch him suffer, it broke Zero's heart to shattered, bleeding pieces. _

_Because of the strange, jumbled way that time did or did not actually work in the realm they were occupying, Zero was in fact still living the memories with Kaname even as these other thoughts and feelings played out. Kaname slowly relaxed into his invisible embrace, surrendering to his lover and clinging to him at the same time in order to make it through this. He burrowed against Zero as if he could make himself very small and hide inside him. As he did, the hunter got the distinct impression, almost as if the pureblood had painfully whispered it to him, that the worst was yet to come. _

_Thus far, the events were all things that Kaname had already known. He'd known about that first rape all along, although he had put it out of his mind and refused to think about it for years. That had been where his memories ended. After that time, there had just been a blank blur until he found himself walking down a deserted road, heading for civilization. His only other recollection of Nasser after that time had been a brief visit the elder pureblood paid to the Ichijos several months later. _

_But now, all the gaps in his memory had been recovered, including the ones he hadn't expected to find and the horrible truth that they painted could no longer be hidden or denied. _

_Kaname held fast to Zero as his newly returned memories continued to flow over them. He lingered in his lover's embrace, savoring it for however long it would last. He was sure that by the time Zero knew and understood all, he would realize what kind of creature he was holding, and Kaname would have a place in his arms no longer. Then... perhaps... Kaname thought numbly, then perhaps he could just die._


	18. Tattoo It on My Tainted Heart

_A/N: Answers as to the nature of the "affinity" between Nasser and Kaname, and why Kaname physically reacted to him the way he did earlier are now beginning to be explained. Same warnings apply to this chapter as last chapter. I won't make you suffer through reading them all over again if you've already done so once, but if you haven't seen them please go back to the previous chapter and read them. In summary, do NOT read this chapter if you would be offended or hurt by either descriptive m/m or nonconsensual situations. Okay? Especially if you read and did not like the last chapter, don't read this one. Or if you want to wait to read the painful parts until after the comfort comes (soon!), then you also might want to keep waiting just a little longer. :)_

_The chapter title comes from the song "Don't Belong" by Cold, which fits Kaname's feelings in this chapter, especially towards the end, very well. Lyrics and music can be found on my blog (the "homepage" link on my bio). This chapter's a little shorter than the last one, but there was really only one place where breaking it off seemed to work before we flow into the next and final scenario from Kaname's hidden past. For those of you who have been wondering how Takuma comes into all this, those answers will be coming in the next chapter. Review Responses are in my forum, as usual, you can find a link to them on my bio page. _

_This chapter picks right up where the last one left off, before we hopped back to the "present time" Kaname and Zero. It feels a bit abrupt to me, but I couldn't figure out how else to ease into it. :(_

**Chapter Eighteen: "Tattoo It on My Tainted Heart "**

Eighty-six. There were eight-six swirls of different sizes and shapes visible in the decorative paintbrush strokes which adorned the ceiling of the luxurious room that was currently acting as his prison. Kaname's mind catalogued this inane fact, seeking to focus on something other than that which he could not truly forget. He still felt nauseous, but he was dealing with it.

Nasser's mouth trailed from Kaname's nipple up his throat, dragging the younger pureblood back to unwelcome reality. He slowly and attentively licked the blood from Kaname's chin, sucking the boy's punctured and swollen lower lip. Ironically, pureblood salvia was a pretty potent painkiller and Kaname's throbbing lip numbed under the slow ministrations. Kaname did not react. Nasser _wanted_ him to react, he wanted to see his prey's pain and hatred, Kaname had figured that out by now and was trying not to give him that pleasure. Kaname remained still, staring stoically up at the ceiling. He was imagining several violent and very satisfying things he was going to do to this bastard someday when the tables were turned.

Nasser's tongue slid into his mouth, seeking a disgustingly intimate kiss. Kaname was sorely tempted to bite the questing tongue in half. He bet Nasser couldn't re-grow _that _in a hurry... but it would be a stupid move that gained him nothing, and Kaname was sure the price he would pay would be horrible. So he simply refused to react at all, allowing Nasser to violate his mouth with all the responsiveness of a limp doll.

On one hand Nasser was not pleased with Kaname's passivity as it took most of the fun out of tormenting him; on the other hand he _was_ pleased because the boy had accurately figured out the best way to make this less pleasurable for him without presenting a clear reason to incur any more punishment. He was such a delightfully quick study, this one.

Slowly but purposefully, Nasser moved inside Kaname's body, thrusting in and out. He was still hard, and already quite ready for another round. His body moved easily in the abused passage now although the boy was still deliciously tight.

_That_ got a reaction from the young pureblood.

Kaname sucked his breath in sharply, stifling a moan, gaze snapping down towards Nasser as the elder pureblood continued to thrust slowly but with increasing firmness between his painfully aching legs. _Again? No... __**no**__... Nasser couldn't possibly expect him to endure that again..._

The fleeting look that passed through Kaname's eyes was priceless to his captor. If Kaname had been afraid before, then now, after a taste of what Nasser was capable of, he was obviously justifiably terrified. The surprise in those wide young eyes made Nasser grin deeply.

"Did you really think I would be satisfied with only once, Kaname?" he murmured in amusement. "What a naïve child. You have no idea how insatiable the appetite of one of our blood can be. You are very, very good... it will take me a long time to get my fill of you."

Kaname ruthlessly quashed a half-sob in his chest. He was only just beginning to understand the hell he was in for and despair yawned black under him. He winced, whimpering hoarsely as Nasser thrust a little harder within his incredibly sore body. Shameful tears squeezed from the corners of his eyes again, trailing well worn paths along the sides of his face to the mattress. They were almost as much from despair as pain, since Nasser wasn't quite taking him hard enough to _really_ _hurt_ yet, at least compared to the way he'd brutalized him before.

Nasser was delighted by this reaction and he leaned up, softly licking and kissing at the salty tears, the visible proof of his victim's weakness. "It doesn't have to be _all_ pain..." he murmured in an almost consoling voice. "Maybe you've had enough pure punishment, hm?"

His hand slid down between their bodies. Kaname's flesh had softened from pain and fear a while ago, but Nasser now urged him back to hardness, stroking and pushing Kaname through his hand in time with his own thrusts.

Kaname bit his abused lip again as the weird, uncomfortably delightful heat fingered through him. His body latched onto the pleasure as an escape from the pain and he responded much too readily to Nasser's ministrations. He felt his gut twist in renewed nausea at just _how _readily he responded and he tried to fight it... but he was as helpless against the pleasure as he had been the pain. Nasser's touch was damning, but intoxicating. Skilled fingers stroked, teased and caressed Kaname's heated skin until the younger vampire could barely breathe for the confused, trembling tenseness growing in his chest and his groin.

Nasser's thumb slid across his moist head, teasing the hot, flushed, velvety skin in a way that made Kaname's stomach muscles quiver and tense as if in a convulsion as heat shuddered through him. Nasser pushed deeply between his legs and Kaname grit his teeth, whimpering in pain... but it wasn't all pain this time. Nasser angled himself now to a different purpose and Kaname was shocked by intense jolt of pleasure that quaked through him when the other vampire's invading body found just the right places to stimulate.

Kaname fought to be still, to not react, to not let Nasser see what he was doing to him. He held his breath until lights popped before his eyes and he dug his fingernails into his bleeding palms. He tried to _not _feel, to not think... to not admit that his abused body was starting to shudder with delight as Nasser showed him how very little he actually knew about himself. It was a losing battle.

Nasser kept up the slow, sensual assault for quite a while. The contrast to his previous brutality made the sensations all the more acute somehow. His hips rocked slowly, his fingers teased and pleasured while his mouth traced forbidden trails of passion on the body beneath him until the blindingly arousing sensations became far too much for his captive to resist any longer. Against his will, Kaname's hips started moving in short little jerks, thrusting tentatively into Nasser's hand.

Kaname found himself resisting the urge to cry again as his body started to surrender. He _ached _from the pleasure flooding him, he felt heavy with it, like it was a weight he could not bear and yet one that was delicious even as it crushed him. The need Nasser kindled in him burned bright and hot and he resisted the urge to moan, pressing up against his tormenter, needing more than he was being given.

When Kaname _finally_ started responding, Nasser lightened his touch but increased the concentration of his pheromones around them. He physically backed off little by little, like the butcher who had a lamb eating out of his hand and knew now he just needed to keep backing up until it followed him into the slaughter house. He made Kaname need him fiercely, then forced the boy to have to go after that need for himself. He lifted his hands, forcing Kaname to thrust more urgently up off the bed to reach the stimulation he craved, he eased back on his thrusting, forcing Kaname to push into his motions in order to feel the breath stealing impact of bliss that could be had at the end of each thrust.

Before Kaname realized it, he was almost undulating against Nasser, his head swimming in a foggy haze of shame clouded desire. He didn't understand. He didn't understand anything anymore. But his body was on fire and Nasser's touch felt like the only thing keeping him sane. _Why? Why did he feel this way? It was so disgustingly wrong... _

"So eager now, for your lessons, little one?" Nasser taunted smoothly as he cupped Kaname's hips, pressing deep and making Kaname's back arch helplessly as his nerves betrayed him. "Do I feel that good inside your body? You always seemed so stiff and aloof, Kaname... I never imagined you'd be such a good little whore."

Kaname's face contorted in a fresh tableau of shame and hatred and he turned his head to the side, his body twisting in a weak, ineffectual attempt at escape that Nasser didn't even bother to punish. Kaname's chest shuddered, he was trying so hard not to move and thrust, and beg. Nasser knew that wouldn't last for long, and he knew, although of course he wasn't about to tell Kaname, that that was hardly the boy's fault.

Kaname's powers of resistance were stripped by the drugs weakening him, and there was nothing to stop Nasser's pheromones and his will from completely overwhelming his victim. Opposition was impossible, the only way Kaname _wouldn't _be thrilling to his touch right now was if the boy was dead. The pureblood body was a real wonder. There was so much you could do to it, so much it could take. If it was handled properly, you could turn sheer agony into the sweetest kind of pleasure. Nasser doubted anyone had introduced Kaname to this concept yet. There was so much for the boy to learn, so much that Nasser could paint upon this blank, inviting canvas... it was unbelievably exciting.

Nasser grew bored with their slower pace as his own need grew and he was soon screwing the boy viciously hard once more, but this time it pleased him to make Kaname enjoy it. He squeezed and pumped Kaname's body in time with his motions, angling so that each ruthless thrust pressed against the sensitive nerve bundles inside Kaname's body. He enjoyed showing Kaname just how swiftly and thoroughly the switch could be thrown from agony to ecstasy.

Kaname thought he must be going crazy. The pain was breathtakingly intense, but now... it was good, too - so damn unbelievably good Kaname felt like he couldn't catch his breath or grab a single rational thought from the wild, spinning maelstrom of sensation. He had nothing to compare this experience against, nothing to help him try to make sense of what he was feeling. He had never felt like this before. Never felt this deep, intense burning in his blood, the sheer fire pooling in his groin that was making his breath hitch and his head pound. He hated himself for this weakness. He hated himself so fiercely he wanted to hurt himself... especially if he could only find a pain that would make the unbearable pleasure _stop. _But he could not.

Kaname groaned and keened hoarsely, bucking feverishly against Nasser as the older pureblood pounded both pain and pleasure through him in unimaginable quantities. Nasser was obviously the more experienced of the two and he played Kaname's body like a fine tuned Stradivarius – wildly, passionately, skillfully, and with complete control. He forced Kaname to accept his brutal rhythm and taught him to desire it and need it as surely as he needed his next ragged, sobbing breath. He kept Kaname on the unimaginable brink of raw pleasure for a very, very long time, not allowing him release until the boy was helplessly bucking and begging.

It was strange and devastating how the pleasure could break Kaname down more utterly than the pain. Pain was something he understood, this twisted, unimaginable ecstasy was not. Pain he could accept was someone else's fault... but this burning, desperate need inside him he could blame on no one but himself. It was like something else, something primal inside him took over and twisted desire drowned all his senses. His body was desperate for a pinnacle of sensation that he'd never experienced before, but that he instinctually craved. He heard a voice that he barely recognized as his own murmuring _"Please, please, please..." _over and over as Nasser tormented him beyond the bounds of bearing, his will controlling Kaname's body and keeping it from finding the relief it so desperately needed.

Nasser forced Kaname to match his own endurance. It wasn't fair really; he'd had centuries of practice at how to draw out his own pleasure and Kaname was completely inexperienced. But this was still punishment after all... and besides, it was simply too delicious to watch Kaname going crazy under him, begging hoarsely, almost deliriously to be taken, to be given release. Nasser made him beg to be fucked, to be fucked harder... by this point, anything Nasser told him to say Kaname did. The boy's will was no longer his own, he was well and truly in Nasser's thrall at the moment and the elder pureblood played the game through until he himself could no longer sustain it.

Kaname was screaming again in agony, need and twisted pleasure for quite some time before Nasser finally stopped holding him back and Kaname felt the fire pooled so painfully heavy in his groin explode into a sea of complete, unimaginable ecstasy that seemed to thrum and tear through every fiber of his being as it shredded him with white hot claws, carving out a piece of himself that he could never get back.

Time literally seemed to haze out for a few minutes. Kaname was vaguely aware that he was shrieking loudly. Nasser was screwing him with an unbelievable, bruising frenzy. But all Kaname was aware of was the agonize bliss burning his nerves and whiting out his thoughts as he came unimaginably hard. He sobbed, chest heaving, torn between equally intense agony and bliss... and smothered under a falling curtain of shame.

Kaname wasn't sure if he actually passed out, or if he merely lost all memory after that point for a few minutes, because the next thing he was aware of, his position had changed. Nasser had apparently turned him over on his stomach and re-chained him.

Kaname trembled softly as Nasser kissed his way up and down the young pureblood's spine. His body was reeling. He felt weak, strange, drained... and yet his body was still tingling with the aftershocks of the intense release.

Nasser seemed to sense that Kaname was becoming aware again and he pulled the boy up to his knees, making Kaname hold onto the headboard where he was chained and spread his legs. Kaname trembled, his legs shaking, not entirely able to support him. He pressed his forehead against the unyielding wood and metal, closing his eyes in miserable resignation. He tensed and gave a small sob as he felt Nasser enter him again, his hands gripping the bed frame tightly. _If there was a hell, it could be no worse than this. _

Kaname's voice was gone, he'd screamed his throat raw and he could hardly make a sound. "Nasser... please..." he rasped in a broken, only barely audible whisper. "Please don't... anymore... please..." a raw sob shook him and he banged his head harshly against the headboard, trying to distract himself from what the other was once again starting to do to him. He had no pride left to protect, he just wanted it to stop. _Please, god, just make it stop..._

If Nasser had had a heart, he would have had to take pity on the utterly, abjectly miserable picture the boy made. But Nasser had no heart. Kaname was here for his pleasure and to learn a lesson the boy would never forget. It was that simple. It was over when Nasser said it was. Until then, Kaname would just have to learn what it meant to be his.

Kaname sobbed softly, clinging to the headboard as Nasser leaned over him, taking no mercy on his prey at all.

Nasser spent the entire day and most of the night in with Kaname. Sometimes he rested for a while, or had food brought in, but Kaname refused to eat or drink anything. He couldn't, he felt much too ill. Always, Nasser returned eventually to his body. The young pureblood ran out of steam long before Nasser did and towards the end Kaname was too weak and in too much pain to even struggle anymore, simply lying still and wishing for death as Nasser continued to use and abuse him.

Slaves came to clean Kaname up and change the bed clothes after Nasser finally left, but Kaname was not unchained. He was too drained to care, too gone to even feel embarrassed as his intimate wounds were washed and the ruined sheets were changed out from under him. He was exhausted and he passed out sometime before the servants had finished. He slept for almost 24 hours, and his dreams were full of nightmares.

Unfortunately, when he awoke, life was still a nightmare. Nasser had completely enjoyed himself at Kaname's expense and had no intention of letting the boy go too soon. After all, he pointed out with evil amusement; they'd never specified anything about _length of time_ in the terms of their bargain either, only that Nasser could take what he wanted, which he did, repeatedly and thoroughly. The older pureblood kept Kaname chained to his bed for the remainder of the week, visiting him like a favorite hobby between his other business engagements. If Nasser was in a good mood, he made the young pureblood scream with pleasure for hours. If he was in a bad mood, Kaname would be spending those hours screaming in pain instead. But he always made him scream. Nasser liked the sound.

Even more, he liked the empty tablet that Kaname gave him to write upon. The young pureblood was so innocent and inexperienced, he enjoyed introducing him to the dark, erotic wonders that were unique to their kind. He taught Kaname how to really enjoy pain and let it take him to the highest planes of ecstasy. It wasn't hard... Kuran already had a noticeable, natural proclivity towards masochism which it was easy to hone. Plus, being constantly exposed to Nasser's pheromones while the drugs kept him weakened and his natural defenses stripped away meant that Kaname was slowly but surely becoming quite literally addicted to him.

Vampire mates adapted to one another's chemistry, imprinting on it until it became more desirable than any other contact. Lower class vampire thralls could be made enslaved to their master's pleasure through those same bio-chemicals. Although Nasser was neither Kaname's mate nor his master, the biology put in play by their prolonged sexual activity and Kaname's constant exposure to Nasser's pheromones was still the same. It was not nearly as strong as if any kind of bonding was involved, but because Kaname was young, stripped of his defenses and because these were his first experiences of this nature, it heightened his susceptibility to the imprinting. Nasser knew what he was doing and took full advantage of the vulnerability, burning and engraving his chemical signature deeply into Kaname's captive body. It was all part of the plan, and a very enjoyable part of it for him.

Nasser took what he wanted, not worried about punitive action from any quarter. There were strict laws about harming purebloods, and Kaname was a _Kuran_. But of course Nasser had already thought all that through before this started.

Kaname could never bring any kind of formal complaint against him because the boy would never admit to a soul that he had been used like this. He couldn't afford that, people expected too much from the last Kuran. He couldn't ever admit he'd been vulnerable enough for this to happen, it would be social and political suicide from which Kaname would never recover.

If the boy's parents had still been alive, Nasser would have had to be a lot more careful. It would have made this gambit of his much more risky and he might have had to go about things differently. They would likely have found out, whether or not Kaname confided in them, and _that_ would have been dangerous. Those two would have been formidable enemies, especially together. There were hundreds of ways a full grown pureblood could find to exact revenge without anyone having to know why it was being exacted. Juri and Haruka Kuran may have been younger than Nasser, but with several millennia under their belts they were hardly _young_. Nasser had not seen in them the potential he saw in their son. After all, they were dead, weren't they? He felt sure he could have out played them eventually, but it would have taken a lot more time, patience and planning. As things stood now, however... Kaname was simply ripe, vulnerable fruit waiting to be plucked.

While Kaname _might _have confided in his parents, he certainly never would in the guardian he lived with now. Asato Ichijo was one of the _last_ people in front of whom Kaname could afford to appear weak. Nasser was perfectly aware that the old aristocrat had his own forbidden designs and desires and wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of any perceived vulnerability.

The Vampire Council who should have been protecting the boy would likewise fall upon the first opportunity to say that he needed even _more _of their "protection" – preferably locked away somewhere as their puppet. That actually irked Nasser a bit. He found it insulting that those low-bloods had so much control over the affairs of their betters. But from a practical point of view, their interference in Kuran's life served his purposes very well.

Purebloods were the most desirable of all prey, and as such, young purebloods without a family to protect them were irresistible to almost everyone. Like orphaned lion cubs on the savanna, their own would happily devour them. It spoke volumes for young Kaname's ability to stand on his own and the slight protection of his highly visible name that he had survived at all, given how young he had been when he was orphaned.

All those factors combined meant that Nasser could do what he wanted and there was no one to stop him. Kaname had no one to protect or defend his interests in the long run except himself, and Nasser wasn't worried about that. Not yet. Kaname would have to gain a few centuries at _least_ before he was ready to worry about that.

At the end of the week, when Kaname was due to return home, Nasser bid him farewell and promised that they would meet again. He kissed Kaname deeply, before landing a sharp blow to his head that fractured Kaname's skull and left the boy unconscious for quite a while. By the time Kaname awoke, it meant that the drugs in his system had finally worn off enough for his head injury to heal.

Nasser and his servants were long gone and the young pureblood found that he was now unbound, lying naked on the bed which had been his prison for the past few days with his clothes in a folded stack next to him. The chains and blood were all gone as if they had never been. With his healing and powers returning swiftly, he now bore no lingering marks of his abuse anywhere except gashed across his heart and psyche. Somehow, that felt like mockery.

Nasser had left a note by the bed.

_Kaname, if you hurry, you'll just have time to catch your flight. I do hope you enjoyed your stay. I look forward to seeing you again. _

It wasn't signed, it didn't need to be. Kaname read it, then balled it up and shredded it into confetti.

The remote country house was empty by now, which was a good thing because in his current mood, Kaname would have killed anyone who crossed his path, even if they were only slaves. As it was, he smashed everything in reach, blew out all the windows and most of the walls before setting the remaining ruins of the house on fire. He stood naked in the burning foyer as it blazed around him, letting the cleansing flames lick and scorch his tainted flesh. The pain was intense, but it wouldn't kill him, he was near enough the entry to leave before the building started coming down.

He was so incredibly, incurably _dirty_. Soap and water could never wash it away, not even if he bathed in a sea of bleach, but maybe the mesmerizing, dancing flames could. The hungry, golden tongues licked at his skin, destroying as they caressed, wanting to devour him just like everyone else did. His flesh blistered and bubbled, but continually re-grew almost as fast as it was being burned off. The pain was more intense than anything he'd ever experienced, but that didn't matter... no, actually... it _did _matter. He _wanted _the pain. It hurt so bad it made him howl fiercely in agony, burying his face in his hands as he let himself be scorched. He reveled in it because it hurt and there was nothing about it that felt good. It hurt like pain _should _hurt.

Then Kaname threw his arms wide and tilted his head back, letting the flames have him, embracing the destruction, becoming almost numb to the glorious, searing pain as he felt a dazed kind of peace descend upon him. _Burn, burn... burn it all down until there was nothing left, let it match the smoldering ruin of his heart and soul which no one could ever see. _

He stared at the hypnotically dancing white-orange flames around him. Fire was so strangely beautiful. Destroying as it cleansed, devouring as it purified. Kaname didn't want any trace of that bastard left on his body, didn't want any of the skin that _he_ had touched to continue existing. The new skin came in, as pale and flawless as before, but it was flesh that Nasser had never laid a finger upon. To the young pureblood's screwed up heart and emotions, that was vitally important somehow. Even if he knew that could never truly feel clean again.

Eventually, Kaname left the burning building before anyone might arrive to try and deal with the blaze. He retrieved the clothing he'd left outside before starting the fire. He dressed slowly. The clothing almost felt odd on his skin after having been naked for so long.

Silently, he started walking down the long, deserted road towards town. His skin was already perfect again and by the time he'd gone about half a mile, his hair had already grown back to its proper length as well. This was how it was, with purebloods. Their bodies automatically strove to maintain complete perfection... no matter how rotted and soiled they felt inside. They could be beautiful husks, housing the most unspeakable corruption.

Ahead on the road, he saw a slight figure stumble into sight. The thin form immediately tried to straighten and walk more smoothly when it caught sight of him.

Kaname stopped and stood still on the side of the road as a grey haired girl of about his age approached him. There was dried blood on Seiren's head and clothes and a slight wobble to her walk that she was attempting to hide, but she seemed to have no fresh wounds. She'd not been around the house when he left, Kaname had checked before he wrecked the place. That meant Nasser must have had her dumped somewhere further down the road on his way out of town, probably leaving her unconscious, like he had left Kaname.

Seiren wouldn't meet his gaze when she reached him. Silently, she dropped to her knees on the gravel before her young lord. Kaname caught a brief glimpse of tears in her eyes before her head was bowed. She radiated shame and guilt, two feelings with which Kaname was intimately familiar at the moment.

"I failed you, my lord. Forgive me," she whispered softly, bowing her head further and offering him her neck - offering him her life as the price for her inability to protect him. It seemed that she, like Nasser, felt she should die for that offence.

Seiren didn't know what had happened. Kaname appeared to be unharmed and she was unaware of anything that had transpired, but she knew that she had been taken out. Whether or not anything had happened, it _could _have, and she had not been able to prevent it. That was unacceptable. Praetorians were literally born for their jobs. Seiren's bloodline had served the Kurans since ancient times. She had been conceived when it was announced that Juri Kuran was pregnant and born with the sole intention of serving the newborn pureblood for the rest of her life. Her parents had been Praetorian to Juri and Haruka respectively, and had died the same day as their master and mistress. Usually, she would never have been called upon to defend her young lord by herself yet at this age. He should have had his parents to protect him still, and her parents as well. Her role at this stage should have merely been to be dedicated to him, to grow up in his service while honing her skills until they were both of an age when her services were needed. But life had had other, less kind plans for both master and shadow. The world now demanded that maturity come swiftly, or it would never have the chance to come at all.

Kaname just stared at her for a moment. Nothing felt truly real to him right now. A strange, detached numbness had taken up residence in his heart and mind. You could only take feeling too much for so long, before it was easier and safer to feel nothing.

"Are you all right?" he asked quietly and Seiren seemed surprised by the question.

"Y-yes, my lord." She seemed to feel guilty about that, since in her mind not even being on death's door would excuse her failure. She did not look up, maintaining her bowed position.

Kaname supposed she would say she was whether or not it was true, but he rather suspected, or at least hoped, that Nasser wouldn't have wasted his time tormenting someone like her who was so far beneath him. He was right.

"What day is today, Seiren?"

This time, if she was surprised by the question, she did not show it. "The 23rd, my lord," she whispered without looking up.

Kaname gazed at her for another long moment. The 23rd was days ago, or possibly even in another lifetime. It was the day Nasser had captured them both. Apparently, she was ignorant of the passage of time since then, whether because Nasser had wiped her memory, or simply because she had been kept unconscious since that time, it didn't matter. The young pureblood felt vaguely relieved. As hard as it was to bear some secrets alone, it would be harder still to have them be known. No one could ever know what had happened to him.

Slowly, he reached out and lightly touched the back of her bowed head, his fingers surprisingly gentle against her tousled hair. "I'm unharmed, and it wasn't your fault," he said quietly, and then simply started walking again. It wasn't a lie, he _was_ unharmed... now, anyway. His body made sure of that. And it wasn't her fault either, it was his own. He had gotten himself into this, and he had suffered the consequences. Even if she had been a full grown vampire and as skilled as both her parents rolled into one, there wasn't anything she could have done against a pureblood, and especially not one like Nasser.

"Do you think," he said after a moment, knowing that Seiren was following him even without looking back. "That you could find us a car? I'd rather not walk all the way to the airport."

Seiren did, and swiftly, too. Kaname's simple, unequivocal forgiveness of her failure was both unexpected and deeply touching to her. It was obvious that she wanted urgently to be able to do something useful for him.

Kaname didn't ask her how she came by the vehicle, which looked suspiciously like it had been hotwired, nor where and when she had learned to drive, much less jack a car. He was silent for most of the ride into town. When they arrived at the airport and it was time for him to get out, he suddenly found himself wishing that Seiren was on the same return flight as him. But that was not the way the tickets had been booked, since at that time he had not wanted it to be obvious that they were traveling together.

Kaname's wallet and papers had not been in his clothes when they were returned to him. He had no money of any kind at the moment, so he couldn't make a new reservation. It was going to be difficult enough _persuading _his way through the airport without an ID in order to make his flight. So Kaname simply slid out of the car while Seiren idled in the departure drop-off lane.

He paused for a moment with the door still open. "I'm glad you're all right," he said quietly, before shutting the door and disappearing into the airport. He hadn't known whether or not Nasser had kept his word about not killing her until he'd seen her on the road. Maybe the fact that he was glad she had been spared was a weakness, part of his unwillingness to sacrifice pawns like Nasser said... but at the moment, Kaname didn't care. Actually... he didn't care about much of anything at the moment. It was as if something inside him had turned off. He was watching life flow around him, but was no longer connected to the stream.

The flight home felt like an odd dream. People moved about the cabin, the captain made announcements... the sheer banality of it felt ironically bizarre. It seemed wrong, somehow, that everything should suddenly be so normal once more. The numbness inside him settled in like a hard winter frost, slowly covering everything under its cold, glassy blanket.

Takuma was in the limo that came to pick him up. He always was. He was the only person who was ever around to welcome Kaname home. _Home... _but he didn't really have a home, did he? Just another prison. Just more people who wanted to use him.

Takuma gave the other boy a small hug as Kaname slid into the car and the chauffer closed the door. "Welcome back Kaname! Did the trip go well?"

Kaname froze. Takuma was always like that, he was affectionate by nature and it was a natural gesture for him, but suddenly Kaname felt panic well and bubble up inside him at the sensation of the other's arms around him - at the feeling of being touched.

He almost shoved Takuma way from him. But... he stopped himself. This was stupid. Logically, there was no correlation whatsoever between Takuma touching him and Nasser touching him. He would _not _let Nasser influence or run any piece of his life, _ever_. Besides... Takuma was probably one of the only people who would actually be hurt and not just mildly offended if Kaname pushed him away.

Quashing the feelings he could not dispel and merely ignored instead, Kaname hugged Takuma back lightly before settling into his seat.

"No, not too good. I was unable to secure the contract location," Kaname said simply in answer to the other's question, his gaze turning to stare out the tinted window as the car pulled out of the airport and onto the highway. He still felt oddly disassociated from everything, like nothing was quite real, or as if he had become merely an observer to events in which he used to participate.

"I'm sorry, Kaname. I know that meant a lot to you," Takuma said with genuine sympathy. He was a little concerned. Kaname seemed so... distant, distracted. But it was possible he was just down about losing the deal. Takuma was well aware that Kaname wasn't accustomed to losing at anything.

"It doesn't matter," Kaname murmured, leaning his chin on his hand; gaze still fixed out the window. "How angry is your grandfather that I left without asking his permission?" he inquired with a bit of morbid curiosity.

Takuma shifted uncomfortably on the other seat, obviously trying to find a way to put a nice face on something that wasn't at all nice. "Oh...! Um, well, not too much," he lied, then made a face because he knew Kaname knew he was lying. "He was pretty upset," he admitted with a sigh.

_Great. _That probably meant that he was going to be spending some time locked in his room when he got back, or possibly in the basement, which was worse. Usually this news would have made Kaname apprehensive, but right now he felt nothing. It just didn't seem to matter. He couldn't seem to care about anything. Maybe his heart was dead. Maybe it would be better if it was. There was a kind of strength in the protective numbness. Maybe that's why Nasser was so strong, because he had let his heart die long ago. You couldn't be hurt if you didn't feel. If you just didn't care anymore.

Street lights flicked by outside the window and his gaze unconsciously tracked them as they passed.

"Oh, hey, Cross sent this over while you were gone. Don't worry; I snagged it before Grandfather saw it. The note said Yuki made it for you," Takuma said, pulling a folded paper out of his jacket pocket and handing it across to Kaname.

Kaname unfolded it slowly, almost hesitantly, holding the paper like it was precious. It was a carefully sketched picture of what was obviously supposed to be Yuki and Kaname building a snowman, something they had done together the last time he'd seen her, a few weeks ago. Kaname could be sure who was supposed to be whom because Yuki had carefully stenciled their names underneath each figure in her best childish penmanship. She had put a shy little heart next to his name and then erased it, apparently embarrassed, but he could see the indent of its shape still on the paper.

Reality seemed to rush back in on Kaname, breaking through the numbness swallowing his soul. It hurt, hot and fierce like a scalpel through scar tissue, but it also made him feel alive again in a way that he hadn't realized he was losing hold of. He felt the odd, unexpected sting of tears burn the back of his eyes and blinked them away quickly lest Takuma see. "She's becoming quite an artist," he said softly, fingers gently caressing the page for a moment before he carefully folded the paper up and tucked it into his shirt pocket, over his heart.

He couldn't let his heart die, because Yuki needed to live there. He could hide it, he could never show it to the world, but he couldn't just let the spark die, no matter how better off it seemed he might be if he could shed that 'weakness'. Innocence did still exist in the world. Even if he had lost every single shred of his own over the short, bitter span of his life thus far, it was still out there in others, and it was worth protecting, at all costs.


	19. Silent I Go Under

_A/N: This chapter is WAY too long. It's long enough to be three chapters. But since I promised we'd only spend one more chapter in the past and since I've not been able to post for the past couple weeks anyway, consider it catching up for lost time. :) I apologize if parts of it seem kind of rushed or anything. I hate it when that happens, but occasionally you hit those points where you just have to get through things that have to happen in order to move the story along and you just can't find the inspiration to make them more than that. I've been really pressed for time the past couple weeks and that tends to kind of make the problem worse. Also sorry if there's more typos and mistakes than usual, I haven't really proofed this completely, but I'm too tired to do so now, so I'm going to just post and hope it's not too bad. Soo... sorry on all counts, but hopefully there's so much to read in this freaking monster of a chapter that those parts won't be too irritating. That's assuming, of course, that anyone can actually make it through reading this entire chapter without dying of old age. :S_

_This is the last chapter of flashback from Kaname's past. There's a lot of ploty-stuff happening, and that takes up most of the time, but there is another instance of Nasser x Kaname near the end of the chapter. So, if you don't like that DO NOT READ! __**If you have not read the warnings on the previous chapters, please go back to chapter seventeen and read them now before proceeding. **_

_That being said, this chapter is very, very emotionally angsty. Poor Kaname gets pushed way past his mental endurance point and I actually feel really horrible for him right now. *cries for him and hides* Considering that all I want to do right now is hug him and tell him everything's going to be okay, I promise that next chapter we'll get lots of comfort between Zero and Kaname back in the present. _

_The title of the chapter is from the song "Hopeless" by Breaking Benjamin. It fits the chapter very well I think. The lyrics are on my blog, or you can just Google them. _

_*passes out tissues and heavy clubs to everyone entering the chapter* I'm sure you can figure out what to do with both. :)_

**Chapter Nineteen: "Silent I Go Under"**

Kaname blocked and parried with lightening reflexes, spinning around to get a shot in at his opponent's back. But the razor edge of his blade was expertly caught and deflected by Takuma's as the other twisted practically in midair to block the strike. The blonde somersaulted and returned a swift series of slashing jabs which Kaname moved quickly and gracefully to block in turn.

The young pureblood enjoyed the temporary physical release of the match, and the level of focus it demanded. When he was moving like this everything was fluid and instinctive. His every thought was trained on tracking his friend and opponent and responding to the flow of the dance that they played out to the music of clashing steel. When he was moving like this, for a little while he didn't have time to think about the darkness that haunted his dreams or the memories he could never completely shake.

It had been several months since Kaname had been Nasser's prisoner, but the memories with which the elder pureblood had left him were like slow poison, a venom that was gradually seeping into his already difficult life and making it even more unbearable. Kaname knew he should be stronger than this, he should simply put the whole wretched affair out of his mind and keep his eyes on the present and the future. Some days, he managed that quite well... but then there were the days when he woke up screaming in a cold sweat and then had to lie fearfully in bed, afraid someone might have heard him. There were the days when he had to bury his face in the pillow until he suffocated in an effort keep anyone else from hearing his soft sobs, or smelling the tears that purebloods were not supposed to shed. There were the nights when someone would stand a little too close to him, or touch him when he wasn't expecting it and he had to restrain himself from either accidentally killing them or broadcasting his jolt of shamefully frightened tension. It was especially difficult with his guardian, Asato Ichijo. The elder noble's constant presence and equally constant lust for his blood was becoming increasingly intolerable. It had always been irksome, but after what Nasser had done, the weight of Ichiou's hungry gaze was harder for the young pureblood to bear. It stirred up in him those things he wanted to forget and it made him feel continuously vulnerable and on edge.

Despite all that, Kaname continued to survive one day at a time. He carried on, and let no one see his inner scars, steadily striving to put the past behind him. To his relief, no one seemed to see the change in him. Well... possibly no one other than Kaien Cross, anyway. Kaname had only seen Yuki and her adoptive father once since the fiasco with Nasser. Yuki had been her bright, bubbly self, exactly what Kaname needed to forget about his pain for a while, but he couldn't help feeling that Cross looked at him with eyes which saw too much. It was as if the elder man could tell something had changed merely by the way the young vampire interacted with them.

When they were alone, Cross had actually asked him if he was okay, if Ichiou had done something or made another play for his blood. He'd been almost painfully gentle, speaking as if to someone quite a bit younger than Kaname... or at least, younger than Kaname felt. Kaname simply denied it and changed the topic, but Cross's perceptiveness, although misdirected, had frightened him. The foolishly unthinkable momentary urge to trust someone with his problems had only tugged at him for a second, but the fact that he had been tempted at all scared him. He couldn't afford that kind of weakness. It was worrisome that Cross had even asked. Kaname wondered if he was not putting up as good a mask as he thought. In actuality, he was simply unused to having anyone sufficiently mature and wise enough in the ways of the world care about him enough to notice his problems.

Takuma cared, but he was young and blissfully innocent and ignorant. That was actually kind of comforting to Kaname right now, it made it easy to be with him. It made it easy to just forget and pretend and focus on other things... like he was doing now.

Kaname twirled his katana in a fluid hand-over-hand figure-eight, sweeping and jabbing, allowing himself the freedom of this comfortable, familiar routine as Takuma matched him move for move. Both teenagers moved with the skill and agility of masters, which was a good thing since the razor sharp blades with which they fought could easily cut a man in half with one swing. The two boys never deigned to use practice swords these days, they had abandoned bokkens and shinais when they were small. Takuma was unusually naturally talented and adept at sword play and since they had both agreed long ago to never use any of their other abilities when they were sparring, this was at least one area where he and Kaname were evenly matched.

Kaname had made Takuma swear he would never cede a match to him intentionally, nor restrain from trying to land a hit. In a situation like this, the ban on harming purebloods was a moot issue. If Kaname wasn't capable of defending himself in a fair match, then he deserved whatever wounds he acquired. However, it was very rare that either of them could get close enough to do the other harm, they were too good.

Takuma kept to his promise, and Kaname thought sometimes that Takuma actually rather enjoyed this chance to pit himself fully against his pureblood friend in a realm where they could stand toe to toe. Takuma worked at it much harder and with more discipline than he did, practicing regularly and honing his technique, while for Kaname it was more of a casual interest and a way to let off steam. He fought more by instinct and reaction than training. So when it came to form and technical precision, the blonde was better at it than he was and Kaname wasn't above admitting that. Kaname was quite capable of being competitive, but he didn't begrudge his friend a chance to shine at something he loved. He _would _make him work for it, however.

A vague unease fingered through the back of Kaname's mind, blurring his focus a little as he twirled and spun, reacting to Takuma's moves with blinding natural speed. Kaname blocked, ducked and side-stepped gracefully, but his attention was no longer on the match. He was suddenly aware of a familiar sensation that he couldn't place for a moment, like a scent that you know you've smelled before...

Then, suddenly, Kaname was icily certain what, or rather _who, _he was sensing. _No... that couldn't be right, he was imagining it! It was impossible..._ His body felt cold and hot at the same time and he totally forgot what he was doing for a moment. The next thing he knew he was face to face with a deadly blur of Tamahagane carbon steel heading right for his head. He didn't have time to block the blow, he'd reacted too slowly. He only just had time to throw himself backwards, under the path of the sweeping blade. The razor sharp katana whizzed by barely half an inch over his chin as he bent backwards at the waist, head canted back, arms out flung for balance as his momentum carried him earthward. Kaname pushed off at the last moment with his feet, turning the fall into a back flip. He was off-balance and wasn't able to get his hands under him in time to complete the flip, but he gracefully caught the ground with his shoulder instead, somersaulting and rolling fluidly up into a defensive crouch, his own blade raised in time to deflect Takuma's as it followed through on its arc, slashing down towards him.

Their sabers crashed together and then everything fell completely still for a moment. Takuma's green eyes were wide as he looked down at Kaname over their crossed blades. His heart pounded in his ears with the awareness of how close he'd come to accidentally beheading his best friend. They were both hesitating in surprise over what had just happened, it was a moment when either of them could have pressed to take advantage of the other's distraction, but neither of them did.

Asato Ichijo's voice broke the moment, calling out to his grandson and his ward from a little ways down the path which wound through the moonlit garden in which the boys were sparing. The maze of stone benches, pillars, free-standing, ivy covered walls and porticos in the heart of the sprawling, well kept gardens had long been their favorite place to practice because of the variety of the terrain.

Takuma stepped back and sheathed his sword, grabbing his towel from the nearby bench. "Geez, Kaname, you trying to give me a heart attack?" he murmured softly as he wiped perspiration from his naked chest and brow with the towel before draping it carelessly around his neck. "I thought you weren't going to move for a second there."

Ichiou called to them again as if they might somehow have not heard him the first time and Takuma rolled his eyes. "Wonder what he wants now?" he grumbled softly, for Kaname's ears only, obviously disappointed at having their session cut short. "Wonder who that is with him?" he added as he gazed across the garden to where his grandfather and another man waited for them. "He's another pureblood," the young noble appended once again, able to tell that at a glance. There was something absolutely distinctive about purebloods to other vampires, even if it wasn't easily explainable. Takuma sounded curious now. Purebloods were rare enough that he hadn't met too many besides Kaname, Sara Shibukiand a few others that he saw only in passing every once in a great while at the society soirées his grandfather hosted.

Kaname climbed back to his feet and also sheathed his sword. He was reaching for his towel, but as he too caught sight of the unmistakable figure standing beside the elder Ichijo, he froze. Takuma was right, that was definitely another pureblood, and his senses had apparently not been playing him false. What was _he_ doing here? For half a second, Kaname felt an unbidden jump in his chest and a bitter acridness in the back of his throat as he saw the tall, powerfully built and devastatingly handsome man that he would have given just about anything to be able to forget.

_Nasser. _

For a moment, Kaname's thoughts instantly flew to the saber he'd just sheathed and the satisfying notion of how much damage he could possibly try to inflict with it, but he discarded the idea just as quickly. That was a foolish, emotional impulse, not one that should be acted upon. For one thing, Ichiou and the Council would have a field day if they had actual proof that he was in anyway unbalanced and besides, Nasser wasn't stupid enough to put himself in Kaname's reach if he didn't figure that he had the situation perfectly under control. Kaname was not going to make the mistake of trying to face him down again until he was sure he could succeed. Nasser had ground that lesson into him very, very well.

Nasser was watching them and his eyes caught Kaname's.

"Kaname?" Takuma's voice was a welcome distraction.

Kaname wrenched his gaze away from Nasser and found Takuma looking at him a little oddly.

"Something wrong? You look pale," the young noble inquired with a bit of concern.

Takuma knew him far too well and was far too observant. Kaname's guard instantly snapped back into place and he shook his head, quickly toweling off his damp face and hair as if everything was normal. "Hm? No, nothing's wrong. Just trying to place where I've seen that man before," he lied convincingly.

As the two boys made their way over, Kaname was uncomfortably aware that he was naked from the waist up. Usually that was not something that would have made him self-conscious, but considering who he was walking towards, it did. Nasser's eyes swept across the exposed skin like hungry coals. He was obviously remembering every intimate touch he'd laid upon that body and letting it show in his eyes so Kaname would _know_ he was remembering it. _Bastard._

Kaname utterly refused to be suckered into that game. Didn't matter what he felt. Didn't matter that his flesh was crawling and his stomach felt like he'd swallowed a razor sharp iceberg. Outwardly he was cool and collected, nonchalant even. His gaze gave no flicker of emotion, no reaction to what was displaying so obviously in Nasser's gaze. _Go to hell._

Casually, he flung the towel he was carrying over one shoulder as he and Takuma reached the two elder vampires.

"You called us, Ichijo?" He inquired, completely ignoring Nasser in favor of his guardian.

"Yes, I want you two to meet our new guest. Kaname Kuran, this is Nasser Ardon, head of Orion International," Ichiou introduced them formally. "He is here on business and will be staying as an honored guest of our household." Ichiou seemed pleased to have two purebloods under his roof. On one hand it would be a pain, because dealing with purebloods usually was, but on the other he felt that it was also quite a symbol of how much influence he had. "Nasser Ardon, this is my ward, Kaname Kuran, son of..."

"We've met," Kaname cut Ichiou's introductions short, affecting an air of calm disinterest. He was doing an excellent job of hiding how badly his stomach was churning at Ichiou's words. _Guest. Staying here... _he was going to have to live under the same roof as this man? For how long?

Ichiou seemed a bit taken aback at being interrupted like that and his jaw muscles tensed silently. He wasn't about to reprimand Kaname in front of another pureblood, however. That would be seen as gross disrespect. There was a lot he could get away with in regards to how he treated Kaname when in private, or in front of other members of the Council, but he was smart enough to be much more wary in front of someone like Nasser.

Kaname would have enjoyed seeing his frustration, if it weren't for who this particular other pureblood was.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Nasser," Kaname lied through his teeth with a pleasant, bored smile. Deliberately, he stretched out his hand towards the other vampire in greeting, intentionally beating him to the punch. He knew that if he didn't initiate the contact, Nasser would, and he would be damned if he gave the older man any indication that he was afraid of his touch. Even if it was true.

Nasser was watching him with cool approval. The boy knew what he was doing, and he was good at it. The elder vampire was glad he'd come. Nasser shook the offered hand, giving it a firm, slightly suggestive little squeeze. Kaname did not rise to the bait, merely giving a cordial squeeze back and releasing. He resisted the urge to wipe the hand off urgently on his pants or the towel hanging over his shoulder.

"The pleasure is all mine, Kaname," Nasser returned smoothly. "Our last encounter was far too brief."

Ichiou was only mildly surprised that the two purebloods already knew one another. He was not blind enough to miss that they didn't particularly care for each other much, despite the familiarity of using one another's first names. But that that wasn't much of a surprise. Most purebloods were naturally wary and distrustful of their own kind, and usually for good reason.

"And this is my grandson, Takuma Ichijo," Ichiou continued the introduction, nodding towards Takuma.

Nasser's gaze turned upon the tow-headed youth standing beside Kaname. His eyes swept slowly and purposefully across Takuma's lean build, his pale, whimsically mussed hair and the attractively careless way he carried himself.

"A pleasure to meet the young heir of the Ichijo empire," Nasser greeted, intentionally turning up the charm as he shook Takuma's hand. He held it just a little too long, looked at him just a little too intensely. "You must be very talented; you were thrashing Kaname quite eloquently when we interrupted. If the skill you show with a blade is any indication of the rest of your talents, I am sure your grandfather is well pleased to have such a successor."

Kaname's blood was boiling. Seeing Nasser look at Takuma that way, like he was mentally undressing him and imagining all the things he could do with his body somehow managed to feel even worse than having that same gaze turned on him. The young pureblood couldn't have cared less about Nasser's intentional little verbal dig at his expense, but the brief yet sensuous way Nasser's thumb rubbed the back of Takuma's knuckles threatened to make his control waver. He wanted to lop off Nasser's hand and pull Takuma away from him.

Takuma was pleased and slightly flustered by the unexpected praise. For some reason Nasser made him a little uncomfortable, but at the same time the instinctual draw to reverence that the elder vampire's pure blood held over him was strong. It didn't hurt that the man was drop dead gorgeous either. In any case, it was pleasantly unusual for anyone to pay much attention to _him_ when he and Kaname were together. He didn't resent that, he never had, it was simply a fact - living with a pureblood meant you were almost always taking second string. To be quite honest, considering the self-serving, insincere and downright treacherous kindof attention Kaname usually received and the weighty burdens that went with his station, Takuma didn't envy his friend one bit. Other vampires were covetous of purebloods' power and position, but not Takuma. Takuma had seen enough of the truth to instead pity their loneliness and isolation.

"Oh no, you're very kind, but I'm sure Kaname was letting me win," he demurred modestly. Actually, he doubted that was the case, but he felt compelled to defend his friend against any implied slight, even when it was in his own favor.

Takuma didn't understand the odd, not entirely pleasant smile that crossed Nasser's face as he glanced towards Kaname. "You're too modest, Takuma... Kaname knows better than to _let _anyone else win, I'm sure."

"Isn't Orion International considering an export coop with Ichijo Enterprises' silicon fabrication interests? Is that why you are here, Ardon-sama?" Takuma inquired quickly to change the subject. He was used to running interference for Kaname and it simply came natural to him. Although usually that skill took the form of distracting and entertaining people at soirees so the young pureblood could slip away and escape the pawing press of the crowd. Takuma liked being around people, Kaname didn't. They made a good team.

Nasser easily allowed the change, giving Takuma a brilliant smile. "Ah, not only athletic but also up on the affairs of the family business, I see," he praised shamelessly. He really liked how obviously disturbed Kaname seemed to be by his attentions towards the young aristocrat. It was also interesting to note the way the lower-blooded youth naturally fell into attempting to divert unpleasant attention away from his higher blooded companion. In those few moments, Nasser could already see that which he was sure the boy's grandfather could not. Old Ichijo didn't know it yet, but Nasser could tell the power-grubbing aristocrat had already lost his heir's loyalty to the very pureblood he was trying so hard to control. Quite amusing, but really none of Nasser's concern. What he enjoyed was the way Kaname's body temperature rose every time he touched the little mixed-blood. He wondered briefly if Kaname had already claimed him, but then he dismissed the idea. Kaname wasn't that mature or confident yet. They'd have to work on that.

"Yes, you're correct," Nasser confirmed pleasantly. "And if all goes well, it may be the first of many prosperous business ventures between us. That's why I shall be staying with you for a few weeks while the details are hammered out."

Kaname felt a deeply sinking feeling. _Weeks? Nasser intended to stay with them for _weeks_? _Of course Ichiou would be only too pleased to have him stay as long as he liked if he thought he stood to gain from it. Orion International was the only organization that rivaled the Ichijos' for size and power. Orion currently had a ruthless stranglehold on silicon import and export in this area of the world. It was understandable that Ichiou would be very interested in an opportunity to break through those barriers, especially considering how heavily Ichijo Enterprises had been investing in manufacturing and distribution in the IT market these past years.

Kaname knew that business wasn't Nasser's real reason for being here though. It was the ploy, the hook with which he got Ichijo to do exactly as he wanted. Kaname could easily guess that Nasser's real reason for being here was him. _Why _he didn't know yet, but he would most certainly be finding out.

"Perhaps sometime, you would do me the honor of crossing blades with me?" Nasser was still pouring on the charm towards Takuma. "Work keeps me so busy, it's been quite a while, but I'm sure it would come back to me..."

Takuma was increasingly flustered by the elder pureblood's attentions. They pleased him deeply, but there was some small unease in the back of his mind that he couldn't quite pinpoint. He put it down to the fact that he felt Nasser was being kind of rude to Kaname. "I'm certain I would be no match for you, Ardon-sama, but of course, whatever you wish," he replied graciously.

"If you're so interested in _sparring _why don't you stop beating around the bush and come give it a go with me, now?" Kaname said coldly, rather surprising Takuma who had never seen his friend engage anyone during a social call unless required to do so.

Kaname dropped the towel from his shoulder and drew his blade again in a fluid movement, issuing an obvious, but safely innocuous challenge. His words held more than one meaning. He knew what Nasser was doing. Nasser was _already_ sparring with him. He was using Takuma as a means to get to him and Kaname had no intention of playing a passive game. Like an alpha wolf from another pack, Nasser had come here to his home turf, purposefully nosing into his territory. Kaname knew he had to step up and make a properly aggressive display in return in order to maintain some kind of balance. Failing to do so would indicate that he was willing to cede dominance, which was definitely not the case. He could not afford to let Nasser think that he would run and hide from him like a whipped cur, or that he would not defend his territory.

"Takuma, give Nasser your katana, then you and Ichiou may leave us," Kaname ordered in the same cool tones. He was not usually quite so abrupt with his friend, but right now he just wanted Takuma well out of Nasser's sight. It had to be admitted that it also gave him a bit of grim satisfaction to order his guardian around like that and know that the older vampire was going to have to obey him, because Ichiou would not dare do otherwise in present company. Ichiou would probably get him back for this later, but right now Nasser was the only threat he was concerned about. He wanted to know what the other pureblood was after, the sooner, the better.

Nasser's gaze registered approval. He was pleased by the slightly unexpected challenge. He would not have been surprised if Kaname had tried to avoid him and get away as quickly as possible, but it would have signaled a clear weakness and set a definite tone for the rest of the visit. Kaname, however, was obviously trying to set a quite different tone, one which he had some kind of control over, and he had had wisely chosen a safe medium where any possible defeat would ultimately mean nothing. Nasser knew it wouldn't really do him any good, but it was the right thing to have done. He gave Kaname a small nod as he took the katana which Takuma dutifully offered him. _Well played, _his dark eyes said, before they fixed on Takuma again for a moment. Takuma's wavy hair was falling in his face and Nasser reached out, brushing some of the silky strands back behind one ear, his long fingers ever so lightly caressing the side of the boy's face as he did so. "Thank you, Takuma. I'll return it to you in good condition," he promised smoothly.

"T-thank you, Ardon-sama." Takuma flushed a little, his cheeks pinking in a pleased but self-conscious manner. Nasser's touch had not entirely been casual and his body felt vaguely excited and hot all over. The young noble wanted very much to linger, but he felt Kaname's eyes boring into him with an unusual intensity so he quickly bowed and backed away. He cast a slightly confused and uneasy glance towards Kaname, who was indeed glowering as darkly as it felt like he was, before quickly doing as he had been bid and taking his leave. He wondered with a small touch of hurt what he had done to make his friend so angry with him.

"I will have the staff prepare refreshments for you, they'll be waiting when you're finished," Ichiou said before withdrawing, as if he needed to go take care of those things anyway. Kaname knew it was just so that he could get the last word in and it would seem less like he'd been dismissed. It was obvious he was not at all happy with his ward at the moment. Ironically, Kaname preferred Ichiou's displeasure over the approval that he saw in Nasser's gaze. He did _not _want to do anything that remotely pleased this deplorable man. And yet... he _did_ want the other pureblood to respect him, even if only as a means of protection since respect usually stemmed from the need for caution in their world. The contradicting feelings were a little confusing.

Nasser shrugged out of the overcoat and jacket he was wearing, giving a few test sweeps with Takuma's katana, passing it back and forth from one hand to the other in a way that showed he knew what he was doing. He inhaled slowly, as if testing the air of the moonlit garden, or perhaps testing Kaname's scent for the subtle tells discernable only to those with senses as sharp as their own.

"You enjoyed that, didn't you? Making that insufferably self-important mixed-blood scurry away like a good little dog," he commented once the Ichijos were out of earshot. He normally wouldn't have cared if the nobles heard him except that for the time being, it would not fit into his plans. His smile widened a little. "You like power, Kaname. It's too bad you apparently don't have much without another pureblood around, you should learn to command their respect better."

Kaname wisely said nothing and merely ignored Nasser as if he wasn't important enough to warrant attention while he gave his own blade a few warm-up twirls. Nasser didn't have to know how much he really _did _wish he had the power to get out of the situation in which he was currently trapped. _Patience, _he told himself. He had his plans, he just had to bide his time while he grew older and stronger. What he _didn't _need was Nasser coming in and making a mess of things.

"Of course, I must admit I didn't expect you to be so eager for me to be pointing my _sword _at you again so quickly..." Nasser's silky words were full of double meaning and Kaname's eyes darkened a little.

Kaname knew he was being bated but he allowed it... or maybe, he just couldn't stop himself. He slashed deftly at Nasser, who quickly blocked him just as adroitly and without further ceremony, the engagement began.

"This is the only kind of sword you're going to be seeing while you're here, so I hope you enjoy it," Kaname shot back icily, squelching what felt like a roiling swarm of beetles crawling around in his gut and refusing to get flustered by the double-entendres. He knew Nasser _wanted_ to make him uncomfortable and he would be damned if he played that game. "Now that it's just the two of us, how about we stick to only one kind of fencing at a time and drop the pretence. Why are you here? What do you _really_ want?"

Kaname parried a blow and returned with a breathtaking series of furious counter-attacks. He did not exactly hold back when he was sparing with Takuma, but he had never fought like he truly wanted to kill him either. He was doing so now. He knew he wouldn't be able to because Nasser was far too good. Still, there was a certain amount of satisfaction in finding an outlet for his anger. His pulse pounded in his veins and he was much more focused than usual. He didn't like that there was a stir of something else in his blood, too - a heated stirring _not_ of the angry variety. That infuriated him and he poured even more rage into the intensity of his movements. If he was fighting, if he was so angry he could hardly breathe... then he didn't have to question why being close to Nasser and seeing the graceful way his body moved made him feel anything more than disgust.

Nasser's moves were swift, graceful and economical. He was not overconfident, but neither did he expend any more energy than was needed. He was obviously at home with a blade, but he was also obviously trained in a style of fighting much different than that which Kaname knew. It took a few passes for them to size up one another's moves. Nasser let his opponent's question hang between them during that time, choosing to answer only after they had traded blows for several minutes in silence.

"There's many things I want. One of them is exactly what's happening right now," Nasser finally answered simply. "I want to observe you in your world. I want to see how you move, how you think. It is a mistake to assume you know someone only because of information learned from others. I told you last time we were together, Kaname. You interest me."

Kaname felt a cold chill in his stomach. He didn't like being interesting to Nasser, not at _all. _He side-stepped a jab and returned a blow of his own. He was quickly discerning that Nasser must be accustomed to fighting with heavier blades of different construction, meant more for stabbing than slashing. It was also quite possible he usually fought with two weapons, judging by the way his empty hand tended to move forward when he blocked and the way it occasionally fisted as if holding the hilt of a dagger or shorter sword. Kaname was trying to see if he could use his greater familiarity with the weapon to his advantage, but unfortunately the older pureblood was proving that he was either not completely unfamiliar with a katana, or that that he could adapt fairly seamlessly regardless.

"Well I'm _not _interested in you," Kaname replied firmly. He feinted forward, leaving himself apparently open for one of the jabbing strokes that Nasser favored. "But by all means, stay. Let me watch _you_ and learn _your_ moves. Someday, I when I have time off from other, more important matters, I will use them against you." He tried to keep the anger out of his voice and sound only cold and hard instead. He didn't entirely succeed, but it was a good effort. There was no reason to pretend he considered Nasser anything but an enemy, and if Nasser wanted to laugh at his threat he could go ahead and do so. Kaname fully intended to carry through on it one day, and they'd see who was laughing then.

When Nasser attempted the blow he'd anticipated, Kaname easily turned sideways to avoid it and gave a sharp, upward slash, forcing Nasser to move very quickly to avoid getting cut across the ribs.

Almost to Kaname's surprise, Nasser did not laugh. He appeared to take the boy's words seriously, although he also did not seem greatly concerned. There was that glimmer of approval again in his dark eyes as Kaname momentarily put him on the defensive, having obviously played to Nasser's slight lack of practice with this particular weapon and his unfamiliarity with Kaname's fighting style.

"I'm sure you will. I _want_ you to watch and learn, that's the reason I'm here. You have a lot of potential, Kaname, but I see a distinct lack of guidance in your life. You are surrounded by mixed-bloods and you have no one to teach you what it means to be a _real _vampire. Considering your bloodline, that's nothing short of shameful," there was a flicker of strong emotion in Nasser's cool gaze, indicating that he truly did find the situation both repugnant and offensive.

Kaname was confused and he tried not to let it throw him as they dueled. "Somehow, I don't think I need any _guidance_ from someone like you," he responded incredulously.

Nasser raised his eyebrows. "What, you mean someone older, stronger and more powerful who could unlock the world for you in ways you can't imagine? Don't be short sighted, Kaname, it's unworthy of you. There are those who would literally _kill _for what I'm offering."

Nasser, proving how quickly he picked up on just about everything, slashed first to the right, then to the left, moving around Kaname swiftly as he did so, hemming him in and forcing the boy to retreat backwards.

Kaname snorted. "And what's that, exactly?" He ceded the ground he had to relinquish in order to keep up his defense, but kept the terrain firmly in mind. He knew Nasser was backing him up towards the blind corner of an ivy covered stone wall. There were several benches gathered by the wall, sitting in what would be comfortable shade during the daytime.

"I want to train you. I want to lay the world at your feet, where it belongs. I want you to be my protégé." The statement was so simple and so unexpected that it caught Kaname off guard. He slowed just slightly and then had to quickly struggle to maintain his defense under the onslaught that the momentary dip in his guard had engendered from his opponent.

Breathing hard, Kaname glared at Nasser as they faced one another, blades held warily, each looking for an opening to guide the next move. Kaname took the moment to get his bearings and see how close the wall was now, although he didn't give away that he was aware of its looming presence. He was trying not to be distracted by his own whirling thoughts, but it was hard. Of all the things he might have expected Nasser to say, that was not one of them.

These days, vampire protégés were usually noble-born vampires of exceptional gifts whom a pureblood wished to train in order to heighten their abilities and show them favor, but that was only because there were so few purebloods left in the world now. In the old tradition, born during the early wars, it had been customary for older purebloods to take younger ones as their pupils. Usually this was done for many of the same reasons as it was still done with the nobles today. Older vampires from more prominent bloodlines wielded the greatest power and becoming their pupil gave some of that power to their protégé, while in return the protégé served their mentor's interests and rendered to them whatever services or favors were desired. It was also a popular practice when a young pureblood lost their own family and direct relations during the course of the wars. As the pureblood race had dwindled over time the practice had changed to include the noble class, but Nasser was old enough to have been around when it was being practiced in its original form.

Kaname was aware that Nasser Ardon had no pureblood offspring of his own and he was the last survivor of his bloodline. He was very old, very powerful and had not taken another vampire under his wing in thousands of years. Nasser wasn't being simply egotistical in his claim, there _were _plenty of people who would do anything for what was locked away inside his brilliant ancient mind, not to mention the kind of power that his sponsorship could give. Kaname wasn't one of them, however.

For half a moment... for half a terrible moment, he _was _tempted. _He could do so much if_... but no. He was smarter than that. Nasser was trying to use him like he used everyone, trapping them with their own desires and letting them hang themselves with their own hands. The other pureblood had as much as told him that previously. Now Nasser was dangling the possibility of achieving the things Kaname wanted most in front of him, just like he had before their last disastrous encounter. Kaname had no intention of being burned the same way twice. He may not be in Nasser's league yet, but he wasn't stupid.

"Interesting offer, Nasser, but I've had a taste of your _tutelage_, and I don't care for your methods, or for you. You make the mistake of assuming that I _need _you, which I don't. You make the mistake of assuming that I could ever begin to _trust _you, which I can't. I don't even like you. So you can just pack up and go home." Kaname fainted forward and Nasser blocked it, along with his real, follow up attack.

"I don't expect you to trust me, that would be rather foolish on your part. It's just as well if you realize right up front that what you mean to me is directly proportional to how useful you are. We don't need to waste time on all those emotional lies that lesser beings tell themselves in order to pretend that the world is something that they can face every day without reality crushing their weak little minds and making them mad. I don't need you to like me, you are perfectly free to hate me as much as you please. But you do_ need_ me, you're a fool if you can't admit that. Your long association with low bloods and humans has filled you with ridiculous ideas about the place of sentiment in one's life. You want people to _like _you, to _love _you, a foolish and impossible need which only places power over you into their hands. I really can't believe you don't see that, maybe it's because you're still so young." Nasser shook his head in only slightly exaggerated chagrin. He seemed frustrated by the fact that Kaname persisted in something which to him was as useless as trying to make 2+2 equal 3.

"How you feel should have no impact on what course is the best way to your goal. However, if you want to go with an emotion based argument, I must say you certainly _seemed_ to enjoy our time together..." his eyes sparkled darkly, gaze raking knowingly across the younger pureblood's lithe form.

Kaname's lips pinched but he refused to fall to the bait. _Hot breath, warm hands tugging his knees up over Nasser's shoulders... Pain and pleasure, indistinguishable as he yanked helplessly at his bonds... _The completely unwanted, momentary flood of memories slowed Kaname again. He almost didn't block Nasser's lightening fast attack in time, but he managed. Steel caught steel, clashing, twisting, throwing sparks as the two pureblood's delivered a punishing series of attacks and counter attacks moving faster than human sight could have followed.

Nasser pressed him more relentlessly, driving him back to the wall. Kaname waited until a few moments before his back would be up against it before he suddenly sprang _towards _the wall, rather than away from it. Kaname bounded up onto the nearby bench with one stride and let his feet find the wall itself in the next. His momentum carried him as he took several swift, vertical bounds up the sheer face of the wall and kicked off, somersaulting over Nasser's hand and landing behind him. He was fast enough and had a good enough grasp on the necessary physics to execute the move without needing to tap his powers. By unspoken consent, he and Nasser seemed to be playing by the same 'no abilities' rule under which he and Takuma operated. It was considered something like etiquette, actually, when you were facing off in an art form that would be rendered almost meaningless otherwise.

Kaname swung fast and sure for Nasser's neck, not about the pull the stroke one bit, although also not holding out too much false hope that it would actually connect. Therefore, he was only slightly disappointed when Nasser managed to spin in time to face him, bringing his sword up quickly, sparks flying from their weapons as he blocked.

There was a look in Nasser's eyes that Kaname didn't understand, and he didn't want to understand. It wasn't anger or surprise, or even competitiveness. It was like hunger, but not necessarily any of the various forms of hunger that Kaname had seen in those eyes before.

Nasser counter-attached viciously, now in the position of having to push hard in order to keep himself from being trapped in the corner which he'd attempted to use against his opponent.

Kaname countered well, but it was hard work. His lungs ached and perspiration stung his eyes. He was breathing harder than he wanted to let on when they finally separated, struggling not to gasp for air as they pulled back into the wary, predatory circling pattern that was quickly developing into a habit between them. He was tired, but strangely exhilarated. His blood was so stirred, it sang in his ears. Nasser was like a magnet that somehow emitted both poles in a single direction, both repulsing and attracting Kaname at the same time. It was a riddle he couldn't fathom. He told himself that the rush of being able to vent some of his anger and the natural stimulation that fighting provided was the reason why he felt like this. Why he felt so _alive _and engaged, why he felt so... aroused. Fighting could do that sometimes. It made adrenaline run high and appealed to the violent side of their natures. That's all it was. _All._

Nasser made the first move this time and their blades flashed silver in the moonlight in the ensuing flurry of motion, twisting and glinting, flowing almost like liquid. The older pureblood deflected a blow and he used the opportunity to lean forward as the blades twisted to a partial lock between them, inhaling Kaname's scent again and letting his breath brush the other's cheek. "You want me," Nasser murmured, so soft it was like a wisp of cloud across the moon, but the heat in his voice twisted and curled inside Kaname's gut like a fiery serpent. "The scent of your desire speaks clearly."

Kaname pushed him back brutally, breaking the sword lock and swinging furiously. "You're wrong! I want nothing to do with you!" he hissed, fury flashing in his eyes.

Nasser retreated under the attack, but then moved suddenly with his preternatural speed, ending up behind Kaname, one arm curling around his waist, his chest against the smaller vampire's back. "Keep telling yourself that," Nasser murmured with smoky amusement into Kaname's dark, damp hair, before he quickly released him and jumped back to avoid the thrust Kaname aimed for his heart as the boy spun quickly in his arms.

Kaname's body reeled, although he somehow managed to keep the katana steady in his white knuckled grip. Nasser's touch was strangely electrifying. He made Kaname feel things he didn't _want_ to feel, things that made him disgusted with himself and frightened about his own inner weaknesses. He hated Nasser for that with a passion.

"Live in denial however long you want. Hold onto the misguided truths of lower beings, like a wolf raised by rabbits. Eventually, you'll come see the truth. You'll understand that what I offer, what I want to give you, what I _have _given you is nothing more than what you _want _but are too afraid to admit." Nasser grinned darkly.

"Think about it while I'm here, Kaname. Watch me like you said, see if you can learn my moves and imagine how much more I could teach you if you only let me. Of course, you can refuse, but I shall be here regardless, so you might as well take advantage of the opportunity." He wasn't breathing truly hard yet, but his body temperature was up and he hummed with the pleasure of the exertion. Kaname was good, he was holding his own much better than expected both physically and mentally, since naturally, Nasser was applying pressure in both realms.

Each moment they were together Nasser was more and more intrigued. He was beginning to realize that this boy could easily become an obsession for him. Kaname's strength, his youth, his beauty and his amazing resilience all combined to make him quite a rare find. The elder pureblood had long ago given up the hope that the world could produce anything noteworthy and interesting anymore, then this happened. It was like discovering an intricate, lustrous and perfectly intact seashell after having long felt sure the beach no longer contained anything but broken bits and pieces of refuse. Nasser intended to possess this unique specimen, and he was going to have _so _much fun in the process.

"Don't worry, if you're not interested in continuing the more... interesting... parts of our relationship while I'm here, I am certain I can find other pursuits to amuse me." A light smile danced on Nasser's lips. "Take your delightful little friend Takuma for instance, I think he could be quite entertaining, for a little while anyway."

Kaname's blood ran cold and his eyes snapped fire. "You leave him out of this, he's none of your concern."

"Now, now, Kaname... don't be jealous, it isn't becoming." Nasser smiled slyly, feinting left and then right, but not managing to break his opponent's guard. "He likes me. Couldn't you tell how attracted he was? Or didn't you know your little friend is into men?"

Kaname scowled. Takuma's tentative orientation was not exactly news to him and unfortunately, he _had_ been able to see his friend's interest in the other pureblood. "You're not really interested in him, you just want to get a rise out of me, I'm not blind." He struck out, was blocked and circled around again.

"Well, you're partially correct," Nasser conceded. "I would much rather have you than him, but you have to admit he's a pretty boy, Kaname. Very pretty. Living under the same roof like this, I'm surprised you never tried him out. He seems so eager to please. I'm certain I could teach him a lot, don't you think?"

"Under his own family's roof, while you're his grandfather's guest? You wouldn't dare..." Kaname was seething, but he knew it was a pathetically weak reason to offer. None of those things would pose a real hindrance to Nasser. Outside of the political weight of the Council or the laws they abided by in order to keep peace with the Hunters, the only thing that could stop a pureblood from doing whatever he wanted, was another pureblood. It was Kaname's responsibility to act as a shield for the nobles he considered important to him when they were threatened by other purebloods. It fell to him to protect Takuma from Nasser, even more so since Takuma wasn't just a subordinate, he was also a friend. There was a horrible, cold feeling inside Kaname though, because he really wasn't sure he _could. _He hadn't even been able to protect himself.

Nasser laughed, lunging forward and then pulling back. Even though Kaname was obviously disturbed now, his defense held. Kaname could not hope to beat the older vampire, he was a cub up against a full grown lion, but he _was_ putting up a ferocious fight, Nasser definitely had to grant him that. It was exciting, but also starting to become a little frustrating. Or maybe it was just the scent of Kaname that was clinging to him after their brief contact a moment ago and the priceless look of horror in his eyes that was making Nasser impatient and therefore more easily frustrated. His own instincts were engaging a bit more than he would have liked. They wanted to take Kaname _down _and enjoy the spoils of victory. While trusting his instincts was a strength, Nasser also knew when they needed to be bridled for the sake of the bigger picture. Now was one of those times.

"Kaname, you are so naive it's almost precious! We're purebloods, don't you yet have any idea what that means? We don't ask, we _take. _Takuma will do whatever I tell him to do, he has no choice, nor any right to one. But I doubt it I would have to be so crude about it as that. Couldn't you tell how good it made him feel to have my attention focused on him? He's starving for recognition in your shadow, Kaname. You have no idea how easy it would be to play him until _he _came to _me_ thinking it was all his idea. And his grandfather is of no concern. I mean, do you honestly think Asato would be so stupid as to deny me anything I wanted? Just because he and his precious "Council of Elders" feels safe trying to cage you, doesn't mean he would dare try the same with me. Anyway, don't you know what an honor it is to have a pureblood want you? How could he dream of denying his heir such an honor?"

Kaname's chest was crawling with dread. Everything Nasser said was too horribly true. He could never, _**never**_ allow this man to get his claws into Takuma. Takuma was too gentle and bright, he felt everything too deeply. If Nasser used him like he'd used Kaname, the young pureblood feared that Takuma would be scarred too deeply, the damage too lasting. Now that Nasser knew Kaname would be bothered by something happening to the blonde, the possibilities became even more frightening. There were a lot of things that you could do to hurt those of lower blood. If he really wanted to be cruel, Nasser could bind Takuma and leave him eternally, hopelessly yearning for him long after the pureblood's fickle interest had run out and he had no more use for the boy. Nasser could completely destroy his friend's life, merely to get a reaction from him, and Kaname knew the other vampire wouldn't even think twice about it.

Nasser grinned, reading the pureblood's expression. "You're thinking how my actions towards him could affect his future. That means you _care_ about his future. Ah, Kaname, Kaname... still unwilling to sacrifice pawns? You make yourself so vulnerable you almost take the enjoyment out of the game. I overestimated your intelligence I think, but no matter. You will learn with time."

Nasser knew the time had come to end this. He had enjoyed the match quite a bit, but it had already served his purpose with Kaname. Soon the adrenaline pumping through him and the nearness of the other's familiar scent and delicious availability was going to start testing his control. He would be tempted to make a move that would not fall into his game plan. It was unusual for him to feel such temptation, or perhaps, more accurately, it was unusual for him to not simply reach out and take what he wanted when he wanted it. But he had to be patient. Kaname wasn't ready yet for him to make the next move. Brute force had been sufficient in their previous encounter, and he had deeply enjoyed that, but now was a time for finesse. Kaname had to be handled in just the right way.

He would rather like to end this match with Kaname disarmed and flat on his back under him, but unless he let this go on for a much longer time than would be prudent or pulled on his powers more overtly than he was currently, that didn't look likely to happen. So he decided to simply end things on his own terms. Only indulgent fools _had _to have things exactly their way all the time. The smart ones were flexible and knew when to simply walk away and wait for the right moment. Patience and the cunning were the ways to ultimately get what you wanted.

Nasser delivered a swift hail of blows and Kaname's muscles burned with the strain as he pushed himself to keep up. Then, suddenly, before the young pureblood had even realized he was gone, Nasser was on the other side of the courtyard.

The elder pureblood gave a flourishing little salute with the saber before turning to pick up his coat and jacket from the bench. He was turned away slightly, so Kaname could not see that his fangs had unsheathed and that for the briefest of moments there was a flicker of red in his eyes. Nasser was still perfectly in control, but he had reacted a little more strongly to the fight and to Kaname than he intended to show. He made a mental note to be more careful. Ironically, the fact that he needed to be careful at all pleased him intensely. It was almost like the old days again, back in the bygone era of his youth, long before his race had become an endangered species, necessitating the current laws of protection and preservation. Back then, hunting his own kind had been his favorite sport, the only one really worth the challenge. Like all pursuits, the heavy weight of the passing millennia had dulled its interest and luster and of course, these days, there were precious few left to choose from anyway. Now though... now he felt alive again. This would be a fine hunt, better even than those in the past. It might just be the most interesting hunt in his life. It might also be the last hunt of his life.

"This match begins to bore me, I think that's enough for today. I'll see you inside, Kaname," he said carelessly, his fangs having retracted again at his bidding so he could speak without giving himself away. Turning his back on the other pureblood to show how completely unafraid he was of the still armed boy, he strolled away towards the house. He raised the saber he still carried out to the side carelessly. "I need to return this to Takuma," he added, and Kaname could _hear _the smirk in his voice.

Kaname's chest heaved and his knuckles whitened around the grip of the katana as he watched Nasser glide away through the moonlight, resisting the suicidal urge to rush after the older man and cut him in half. He had a feeling that this was going to be a long, difficult visit.

He was right.

After showering to remove the sticky perspiration clinging to him in the wake of their match, and absolutely _refusing _to take care of the other humiliating problem that the match had also left him with, Kaname came down to the drawing room to find Nasser, Ichiou and Takuma already there. Nasser and Takuma were also freshly showered and they were sitting on the large, padded cushions of the window seat that surrounded one of the massive bay windows looking out onto the gardens. They both had cups of tea and were sitting far too close for Kaname's liking. Nasser reclined like an indulgent monarch on a throne in the center of the window seat, his arm and his tea cup resting on the back of the curving seat while he apparently regaled Takuma with some charming antidote. Takuma sat closer to the outward curve of the seat, one knee drawn up under him. He held his teacup balanced on his knee in both hands, smiling brightly and lapping up Nasser's attention like a puppy.

Kaname felt a little sick at how happy Takuma looked, although he couldn't blame him for being taken in. Objectively, he could recognize that Nasser was handsome and charismatic, not to mention the whole pureblood / noble situation. No, he didn't blame Takuma, his anger was saved for Nasser. Nasser, who looked up at him with such a falsely charming smile when he entered and intentionally shifted a little closer to Takuma. Nasser, who casually but deliberately reached out and brushed Takuma's hair back behind his ear again while they talked, making the moment more cozily intimate.

Kaname knew that Nasser was only using Takuma to get a reaction from him. If he continued to give him one, it would just make him play that angle all the harder. He needed to remove himself and act less like he cared. So he forced himself to look away and somewhat automatically moved towards where Ichiou was more formally seated in one of the room's comfortable arm chairs, beside the small table bearing the tea tray and other assorted delicacies. The young pureblood couldn't just leave the room, although he wanted to. He was expected to be here out of etiquette and he didn't really want to leave Nasser and Takuma alone either. There was no way he was going to go sit with the two by the window like he was a little Nasser groupie, however. Unfortunately that meant he was going to have to keep Ichiou company instead. _Fantastic. _This was just turning into a _wonderful _night, wasn't it?

Ichiou was sitting cross legged in his chair, a cup in one hand and the other resting idly on the gold handle of a dark mahogany cane which leaned slightly against the edge of seat. The ornate walking sticks were a purely decorative affectation on his part. Kaname had had unpleasant occasion to know that the elder noble was quite hale and sturdy and certainly in no need of support when he walked. Secretly, Kaname wondered if Ichiou just liked to _hit _things with a cane and that was the real reason he carried them.

The old noble invited him to sit, and Kaname did, taking the armchair as far away from him as possible. One of the servants immediately poured tea for him, preparing it the way they knew he liked it and serving him several pastries along with it. Kaname accepted even though he wasn't at all hungry, because eating and drinking gave him something to do besides sit there feeling awkward and out of sorts.

He watched Ichiou surreptitiously. His guardian was very good at not giving away whatever was going on inside his head and he gave little indication of what he felt about the pair in the window seat, although his gaze fluttered that way somewhat regularly. Kaname got the idea though that Ichiou wasn't entirely pleased about something. It probably had more to do with the logistical problems of playing host to two purebloods while attempting to not be treated too much like a servant than the fact that Nasser was charming the socks off his grandson, although maybe he was also trying to puzzle out _why _the pureblood was bothering to do so.

When Ichiou's cool gaze slid to Kaname, the younger vampire leaned more heavily towards the later thought. He could almost detect a spark of suspicion in his guardian's eyes, as if the elder Ichijo could tell that there was a game being played here in which he and Takuma were the pawns. If the dark flicker in his expression was any indication, he did not appreciate that at all, and he blamed Kaname.

Kaname sipped his tea with apparent disinterest. _Great. This just gets better and better. _He already had a tenuous situation here with Ichiou, now Nasser was probably going to muddy the waters and make things even worse.

"I trust you and Ardon-sama enjoyed yourselves?" Ichiou made icy, polite conversation. He definitely hadn't forgiven or forgotten the way Kaname had spoken to him.

"Mm," Kaname answered vaguely to the affirmative as he tried one of the pastries.

"You know, Kaname, Ardon-sama is here on business. While I am sure you two will enjoy visiting, I don't want to take up too much of his time. He has much to get done, I'm sure you understand how it is." Ichiou was using "sincere parental" tone, couching his words like a friendly suggestion, although they were anything but.

Kaname bristled at being spoken to like a child, especially one who might want to be hanging all over Nasser and monopolizing his _important_ time. He imagined squeezing Ichiou's head until it popped like a grape while he calmly sipped his tea. He read the real message behind the words easily enough: s_tay away from Nasser and watch what you say to him. _Ironically, it was exactly what he intended to do, although for his own reasons, not Ichiou's.

Kaname suspected that Ichiou was a little worried about what he might tell Nasser regarding some of the things that went on under the Council's benighted guardianship. Things which were against their own rules, and which might upset another pureblood if they could be convinced that they should give a damn. The noble had no idea how little he needed to worry about that, but Kaname certainly wasn't about to set him straight. Let someone else squirm for a while, even if it was probably all going to come back on him eventually.

"Of course," Kaname said simply, as if he didn't notice the tone or subtext. He took another sip of tea, his gaze sliding back to the pair by the window with just a hint of darkness in it. "I'll stay out of his way... if he stays out of mine."

* * *

The sedate _tick, tick, ticking_ of an old fashioned Victorian clock on the dresser sounded like the soft drip of water torture, fit to slowly drive one mad. The silent darkness of the still room was oppressive and claustrophobic. Ironic, considering the darkness should have been a friend of his, but right now it did nothing for his mood. Kaname sat on the edge of his bed, head down, elbows resting on his knees, fingers curled tightly in the hair on the back of his head. He was struggling not to hyperventilate, striving for a level of control that was starting to become nearly impossible. He wanted to scream. He could feel it, twisting and writhing in his chest, trying to break free, but he kept it down. Giving into his feelings was not going to help. Right now, nothing could help.

Two weeks. It had been almost two weeks of hell now. Naturally, Nasser had _not _stayed out of his way and he had made it completely impossible for Kaname to stay out of his. Every time Kaname turned around, Nasser was there, his mocking eyes and the strange mixture of heat and hatred that he engendered in the younger pureblood ever present and impossible to escape. It had been tolerable at first, but like a lobster in a pot filled with water that was being slowly brought to a boil, things were becoming increasingly unbearable.

Kaname felt like he was suffocating, like he couldn't draw a clean breath anymore, couldn't follow a single train of thought that was wholly his own. The subtle mental assault had been constant and unrelenting since Nasser arrived and Kaname felt like he was cracking at the seams. He was hardly even able to sleep at day between the nightmares and the constant, malicious presence of Nasser's will in the house, which he feared might breach his defenses if he relaxed for even a moment.

The first few days hadn't been _so_ bad. Kaname was used to being mentally guarded around other purebloods on the rare times he had interaction with them socially and the pressure that Nasser was silently exerting against him was nothing like a _real_ attack, it was more of a constant, low level pressure. It might have been better if it _was _a real attack though, because then he would have had a reason to lash out against Nasser in self-defense, but this... this was calculated passive-aggressive harassment at its finest. Nasser wasn't trying to actually breach his mind through brute force, it was simply as if the elder pureblood was always mentally standing only a foot away from him, poking at him and testing at his barriers, broadcasting his own thoughts and feelings so loudly that Kaname couldn't help hearing them and it became hard to tell what impulses were his and what he was picking up from Nasser. As time dragged on with Kaname never able to escape it or get any respite, the pressure built and built, pushing the young pureblood until he felt like he was walking the raw, bleeding edge of his own control. He wanted to kill something, or someone. It didn't matter who or what. He felt unsettled, agitated, angry... hungry.

With a soft groan, Kaname reached for the bottle by his bed, downing yet another mouthful of dry blood tablets, chewing the disgusting, chalky things and forcing them down. It only helped a little.

Nasser just wouldn't leave him alone. He was always popping up when he was least expected and finding a million excuses to touch Kaname, to brush against him, to remind him of things he didn't want to remember. It wasn't just the memories that were the problem either, it was what was happening to him _now_, it was the way he felt when Nasser was too close to him, the way it made his heart pound in fear, anger, disgust and... and a hideous, unforgivable thrill of arousal.

Kaname's fingers curled tighter into his hair, digging into his scalp enough to hurt as his breath rasped raggedly between his teeth. _What the hell was wrong with him? _It was hideous and disgusting to find in himself any kind of attraction towards Nasser at all, but he seemed to have no control over the sensations that the other pureblood could evoke in him.

Oddly, despite all the intimidation and continual invasion of his privacy, Nasser had not made a definite move on him since arriving. Initially, Kaname had lived in silent, guarded fear that Nasser was going to try to force him again. He was ready for that. He had decided that he would fight, he would level the entire estate if he had to, despite the possible consequences, before he let that happen again. Constantly alert for treachery that might debilitate him, Kaname wouldn't eat or drink anything he hadn't seen prepared and he tried to be continuously aware of where Nasser's hands were whenever he was close. It was exhausting and adding to his overall fatigue. As time passed with no action on Nasser's part, Kaname simply grew more tense, wondering what game the other vampire was playing and struggling to foresee moves when he didn't even know the shape or position of the board.

It didn't help that Nasser had dragged Ichiou and Takuma into the whole mess. Whatever lies Nasser was feeding Ichiou in private, Kaname could see it was worsening his guardian's suspicious irritation with him every day. And Takuma... well, that was probably the worst part of all.

Nasser continued to pay _way _too much attention to the young noble, usually when Kaname was around to see him. Takuma, bless his innocent heart, didn't see it. He didn't recognize that he was being manipulated and he was obviously developing a huge and not-so- secret crush on the older vampire, which Nasser was just as obviously encouraging.

Kaname thought he might yet scream for real if he had to keep putting up with Takuma mooning over Nasser and acting like he was the best thing since sliced bread. He almost felt guilty since he knew Takuma only shared those feelings with him because he trusted him, because Kaname was his closest friend, but it was very hard for the young pureblood to take. He had started avoiding Takuma lately. It was just too frustrating to see how thoroughly Nasser was playing with his emotions and it was too painful to hear Nasser's praises on his lips. The unkind and unreasonable urge to punch his friend out was getting very strong, but he refused to take his anger out on someone who didn't deserve it. It wasn't Takuma's fault, Kaname knew he was being played by an expert, but it was still galling and frightening and... it made Kaname feel even more alone. Takuma and pretty much everyone else that crossed their path thought Nasser was wonderful and wondered what the hell was wrong with Kaname, why he treated him so poorly. Ironically, Ichiou, with his well hidden general dislike of purebloods was probably the only true non-Nasser fan in the house besides Kaname. That was little comfort, however, since his guardian's displaced irritation, which it was not safe to direct towards the older pureblood, simply found a home in being directed towards the younger instead.

Kaname had tried to counter Nasser's game, but he was failing miserably. He didn't have enough control over the situation. Here in Ichiou's house, his hands were far too tied, and when it came to Takuma, the situation got even more difficult. He couldn't _order _Takuma not to go near Nasser, because Kaname knew Nasser would just seek him out and put Takuma in the awful position of being caught between two purebloods giving him different commands. Besides... he wasn't sure he wanted to know who Takuma would choose in a situation like that. He had tried to more subtly warn the other boy away, had tried to tell him that Nasser was not a good man, but he couldn't tell him _why_ and Takuma seemed to think his friend was being overly protective and prejudiced. Takuma wouldn't have ever said so, but he actually seemed to resent Kaname's continued interference a little.

Morosely, the young pureblood wondered if his friend would believe him about what Nasser was capable of and what he had done to him, even if he _could _have divulged that secret to anyone. Really, it should be a moot point since he would rather die than tell a soul, but... it still kind of hurt to have to wonder. It felt like Nasser was very neatly closing doors all around him, shutting him in even more tightly than he already had been.

He had to believe Takuma would take his side if he knew the truth... or, did he? Kaname drew up his knees, sitting back further on the bed and hugging them. He suddenly felt very cold and very tired. Maybe... maybe Takuma wouldn't believe him. Maybe he'd wonder what was wrong with Kaname and why he was making such a big deal out of it. Or maybe... maybe he'd think Kaname had wanted it. Had asked for it. Maybe he'd despise him.

Kaname pressed his face against his knees, his breath still coming in soft, ragged gasps. It didn't do any good to torture himself like this. Takuma would never know, so it would never be an issue. Eventually Nasser would leave and things would return to the way they were... or so he hoped. He wasn't sure though, he doubted Nasser was going to let go of him so easily. He felt trapped and the walls just kept closing in.

Maybe Kaname himself didn't know what was the matter with him anymore. Maybe he was being totally childish and he needed to grow up. Maybe Nasser was right and he was just afraid and in denial. All he knew for sure was that he felt very, very alone.

Suddenly a delicious smell tugged at his attention. A coppery scarlet ambrosia that piqued his already unsettled hunger, making his chest tighten slightly. Kaname's head shot up. His stomach knotted, but not in hunger. _Blood. _He smelt blood. Familiar blood.

Takuma's blood.

Kaname was out the door and running down the stairs in a blink. Normally, he wouldn't have been very concerned by something like that, but right now, nothing was normal. It wasn't hard to follow the scent to its source and the fact that it lay in the direction of the guest quarters, where Nasser was currently housed, did nothing to ease the fist in his chest.

"N-no, really, it's all right, you don't have to... ahh..." Takuma's flustered, breathless voice came to Kaname a moment before he turned the corner and Takuma and Nasser at the end of the long hallway, near the doorway to Nasser's bedroom.

Takuma's back was pressed against the wall. His shirt sleeve was rolled up to his elbow and spotted with blood. There was a shallow gash across the inside of his forearm. Nasser was standing quite close, bent over slightly, holding the boy's arm firmly in his grip as he licked away the little trickle of blood and lathed sucked warmly on the cut.

"Nonsense... I insist. It was my fault, after all..." Nasser murmured against his skin in smoky tones as he licked and sucked, his ministrations actually increasing the bleeding rather than halting it. Takuma leaned back against the wall harder, in need of support as a hard shiver ran through his body. One of the decorative iron and porcelain sculptures that adorned the hall was on the floor in pieces next to them, explaining what must have caused Takuma's cut, although Kaname was certain it was no accident.

Takuma was oblivious to his surroundings but Nasser already knew Kaname was there. He lifted his eyes as he sucked, directly meeting the young pureblood's gaze and raising his head just enough to give Kaname a crimson smile, his lips seductively painted with Takuma's blood. _I knew you'd come, _was the clear message written in his expression.

Deliberately, Nasser's free hand slid to Takuma's neck, his thumb stroking the pale skin and starting to push down his collar. His gaze, still fixed on Kaname, telegraphed his intentions. _I'm going to drink his blood. Maybe I'll drink a __**lot**_ _of it. Want to stop me? _

Kaname knew this was a game. If Nasser had truly wanted Takuma's blood, he'd have had it weeks ago. All he had to do was reach out and take. Takuma could not have resisted him, nor would it have been socially acceptable for him to do so. When a pureblood wanted your blood or anything else from you, you gave it to them. No, this was all for Kaname's benefit. Nasser _wanted_ him to see what he was doing, wanted to taunt him with it.

Unfortunately, that didn't mean he would stop if Kaname simply left. Kaname knew Nasser was challenging him. If he walked away now, Nasser _would_ drink from Takuma and perhaps do worse things as well. Leaving him drained half to death was probably a best case scenario.

Maybe Kaname _should_ walk away. Takuma would pay the price, but really, why did that have to be his problem? The noble would_ probably_ live... and maybe eventually he'd even get over it... someday. The unkind thought that maybe Takuma would believe him about Nasser _then _slithered through Kaname's mind before he stopped it in its tracks and stomped on it with disgust.

Yes. He _could _easily walk away, but he wasn't going to. Because Takuma was both his responsibility and his friend, and because he knew that walking away would mean he was accepting what Nasser was obviously trying to "teach" him. Nasser considered everyone disposable and saw any attachment to others as weakness. Kaname was no innocent. He was willing to use, manipulate and kill ruthlessly if it was the only way to achieve his goals. He _did _understand that sometimes sacrifices had to be made, but from what he'd seen thus far, Nasser's brand of blasé went far beyond what he could stomach. Nasser didn't sacrifice pawns when there were no other options left, he sacrificed them as an opening gambit. It was obviously effective, and maybe Kaname was wrong and misguided, but that just wasn't the kind of player he wanted to be.

Kaname did not want to make this man pleased, so he did not walk away. Instead, he came down the hall towards them. His face unreadable, but his eyes hard. "Are you all right, Takuma?" he inquired casually.

Takuma, who had obviously been beginning to sink under the hypnotic spell of Nasser's will, gave a little start when he realized Kaname was there. "Oh! Um, yeah, I'm fine." Takuma realized Kaname must have smelt the blood and come to investigate. He gestured vaguely towards the broken shards beside them with his free hand. "Just an accident. Um... Nasser-sama was trying to help..." Takuma glanced self-consciously towards Nasser as if he both did and did not want to pull his arm away. Kaname could see the glazed look in his friends eyes.

_I'll bet he was. _"Good. I'm glad you're all right. You should go change your shirt and wash up, the scent of blood is troublesome," Kaname said simply. The implicit command to _leave right now _was clear.

Takuma nodded but hesitated, glancing at Nasser who was still holding his arm. The elder pureblood gave one last long lick up the length of the healing cut before letting him go, as if reluctantly. "Well, you'd better run along and do as your master says."

Takuma dropped his gaze, seeming subtly humiliated by those words and the situation. Nasser had very smoothly reminded him he wasn't _quite _as good they were. That wasn't something anyone liked to feel. Ducking his head, Takuma pushed away from the wall, curling his bared arm to him and hurrying away around the nearest corner.

Kaname watched him go with a twinge of regret. Nasser was playing he and Takuma against each other, opening a gulf between them that Kaname did not know how to close. Relationships weren't really a strong point of his. Trusting and openness did not come easy to him these days, and he already knew he had to be cautious and aware of the fact that someday Takuma's position as an Ichijo and his relationship with his Grandfather was going to put them at odds and choices would have to be made. Maybe it was better if he let the distance growing between them stay. Maybe they'd both end up less hurt someday. But it kind of hurt _now_, to feel even more alone than he had before.

Nasser was watching him silently and Kaname felt a stab of anger, wondering if the bastard was seeing right through him and sneering at how juvenile were his thoughts and his unspoken, foolish wish to have something like a friend. Something he should have realized was futile ever since the first time the Aido child had thrown his shy advances back in his face. _He was not a being who could have things like that._ _Nature had not made him so._ Kaname didn't know if those were wholly his thoughts or if they had been influenced by Nasser, but they seemed true either way.

"You aren't going to object to me calling you his master?" Nasser said casually, watching Kaname as he licked the blood from his lips and fingers, cleaning it away until there was no trace. He waved his hand and the pieces of the broken sculpture beside him were drawn back towards one another as if by a magnet, every sliver perfectly fitting back together. They shimmered for a moment as their molecular structure was manipulated on an infinitesimal level before they stood still again, the complex sculpture perfectly reformed to its former state as if nothing had happened.

Kaname refused to be impressed by the blatant display of power. "I _am_ his master, and I'll thank you to remember that," he replied coolly. He knew better than to act like a naive child and insist that Takuma was his friend. Nasser would just laugh at him and lecture some more on the gulf between their classes. Besides, there was no use pretending, Kaname knew how their society worked and he had no trouble playing that field. He _was_ the natural leader, the _master _if you wanted to use those terms, of those who were below him on the food chain. He was not afraid to claim that role. However, being owned did not have to be the demeaning thing some purebloods made it to be. Being stronger meant you could defend those who were inferior, not just prey on them. Nature may have created their caste system, but as he saw it, a good leader protected those under him, let them live in safety and worked towards their greater good. It was a privilege yes, but also a very heavy responsibility.

Kaname took a step to the side, lifting his foot and revealing a few small chips of broken porcelain that he'd been standing upon. At his bidding, they silently flew up to the statue, glimmered, and merged back into where they belonged. _Two can play that game, Nasser. You don't impress me. _

Nasser smiled, pleased. "Oh, I see. _Keep your hands off my property, _is that it? Not feeling a little jealous, are you, Kaname?" he inquired with a meaningful look. Nasser took a step closer and Kaname felt that strange, horrible, unbidden heat begin to rise in his core again. Nasser's pheromones were swelling to surround him, making his body hum to their familiar tune, but he didn't know that.

"But _what _are you jealous of, I wonder? Are you really that protective of the noble... or is it just that you can't stand to see me touching _him _instead of _you..._?" a dark, seductive, velvety glimmer had slid into Nasser's eyes and his tone. The scent of blood lingered in the air and after these past few weeks of intense preparation for this moment, it was now easy to stir up the answering response he wanted in Kaname's body. He'd conditioned the boy well. Kaname's body chemistry had shifted to adapt to his pheromones, becoming highly attuned to them. He in turn had taken the time to thoroughly learn and map Kaname's biological nuances. Everybody was the same, and yet they were also different. The basic bodily functions were the same, but the nuances of their responses to different stimuli was the key, and it was that which Nasser was especially good at sussing out. He'd been testing Kaname for weeks now and he had the answers he wanted.

Nasser took another step forward, close enough to touch Kaname now. His fingers ghosted down the side of his shoulder. "Did it excite you, Kaname? To see his blood? To see it on my lips? To see me caressing his body...?" Nasser's fingers fluttered deftly to Kaname's neck, touching the sensitive skin lightly.

Kaname jerked and stepped back quickly, pulling away from his touch. But the boy's lungs were heaving softly, his body starting to glow with heat. Nasser could see the confusion, arousal and fear warring in the angry garnet eyes of his prey.

"Stay away from me!" Kaname hissed, horrified at the intense, compulsive buzzing that was humming through his blood because of Nasser's light caresses and his dark, smooth words. He should get out of here. Now. He knew there was danger here, something was going really screwy and wrong inside him. But... but he couldn't seem to unglue his feet from the floor.

Nasser took another step closer instead, their bodies close but not quite touching. "That's what your mouth says, but it's not what you really want, is it? How long are you going to deny the truth, Kaname?"

Kaname's breath hitched as a harsh, thrilling jolt of desire speared ruthlessly through his body, making his gut churn and his knees feel weak. _No! Stop it! Stop it! _He hated himself, not knowing why he was feeling like this and unable to stop it. _Nasser was wrong! He was wrong, wrong, wrong! He had to be... _

Nasser smiled, reaching out again and brushing Kaname's long, silky hair back behind one ear. Kaname was already his, the boy just hadn't accepted it yet. But he would. "Stop fighting what you feel..." Nasser whispered, leaning close enough for his breath to brush Kaname's skin. "Stop fighting what you are."

Kaname shuddered, feeling utterly betrayed by the fact that his body seemed to give truth to his tormentor's words. Nasser, of course, was not surprised. It was part of the plan and only to be expected. Kaname had no control over the response, but like so many unenlightened souls, he thought he _should _have, and that handed him to Nasser like a brightly wrapped present at a party.

All emotions and sensations when you came down to it, were chemically based. That's why Nasser put so little store in them. A little tweak here, a little dip there and you could feel completely different about something from one moment to the next. Melatonin, serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine... all these things that people had eventually given names to and so many more that the infant practice called science had yet to discover, these were all well known to him without the need for names since millennia ago. The body, whether human or vampire, was in essence an incredibly intricate organic machine. Every sensation you ever felt could be broken down into a matter of mechanical parts, the work of neurotransmitters, nerves and the way your brain interpreted the signals it was given.

You could emotionally neuter someone, if you repressed all those chemicals or blocked the brain's ability to respond to them. Nasser knew, because he'd done many experiments on the subject. Interestingly enough, if you took all that away you didn't end up with a sociopath, because sociopaths still had the ability to feel _something _even if it wasn't what other people considered to be "normal". No, if you truly took away all sensation and emotion then eventually the test subjects merely died. They didn't commit suicide, that would have indicated a need to destroy themselves which they were incapable of feeling. No, after a while they simply stopped doing the things necessary to sustain life until they perished. If you took away all emotion, then they could not fear death nor enjoy life. The machine, robbed of purpose, lost reason to function.

Joy, love, hope, despair, pleasure, pain, arousal... they were apparently essential for a continued will to live, but they were all just variances in bio chemicals and responses. Nasser knew that lesser beings, in their animalistic, barbarian ways were enslaved to the supposed reality that these chemicals created within them, and it made them easy to control.

Kaname was not a lesser being, but he was yet unaware of these truths, so they could still be used against him. By now, Nasser had the control he wanted over Kaname's endocrine system and brain chemistry. He could now make the boy's heart pound on demand. Could fill his insides with a burning torrent fire and need simply by excreting the right balance of pheromones that would tweak receptors in Kaname's body and throw them into bio chemical overdrive.

That was exactly what Nasser was doing now. He had incredible control over his own body chemistry due to his long years of research and practice. He could change and tune his pheromones at will. Now he surrounded Kaname with a sea of invisible incense that was specially formulated to make him helpless with need.

Kaname gasped softly, his head spinning as if he were drunk. He stepped back, bumping into the wall and leaning against it for balance. The world was upending and he could hardly think around the rush of sensation that was burning through his body. He struggled for control, fought desperately for it, trying to deny the feelings, and upon finding that impossible, then simply trying to ignore them.

"No..." he rasped, hating the lack of conviction in his own voice. "I just want you to stay away from Takuma, you... you fucking bastard..." his words trembled around his struggle for air. Anger painted every word in stark, vivid colors. The fact that he was swearing signaled how desperate his losing battle for control was becoming. "He's mine and I won't let you hurt him."

Nasser's smile deepened, he leaned one hand against the wall by Kaname's head, trapping him, although it was already obvious that Kaname was not physically capable of walking away from him anymore. Kaname was so unbelievably strong... he was still fighting when he should have been convulsing in near orgasmic pleasure and clinging to Nasser practically incoherent. Kaname would eventually succumb to his sensations, it was impossible for him not to, but he had an almost scary amount of control and resistance. He apparently had a lot of practice at fighting desires and impulses he did not wish to follow. The boy had a will the likes of which many grown purebloods could only dream about. Nasser had chosen his protégé well. Whether Kaname accepted the title formally or not didn't matter, Nasser was going to shape his life, with or without the young pureblood's consent.

Nasser found himself responding to Kaname's unexpectedly impressive strength and to the beautiful futility of his valiant struggle. His own excitement and desire skyrocketed past the levels he normally experienced from his games. He was aware of himself enough to be interested and enticed by the way his own heart thudded and his body chemistry fluttered and pulsed wildly in response to the sensation of Kaname figuratively struggling and twisting in his grip. _Fight me... _Nasser's eyes dilated. _Fight me... yes... please fight me... _No one ever fought him anymore, he was too strong and skilled and they were all too ruled by their bodies. It was unbelievably exciting to feel the sensation of Kaname's strong, urgent thrashing battering against his will. It felt like really _living. _

"Hurt him? I wouldn't necessarily have to hurt him, you know," he purred in response to Kaname's words, the feral gleam in his eyes beginning to shine through the cultured mask. "Who knows? I could be very good to him if I wanted. Really... I think he deserves that, don't you? Not everyone needs the same things. Your little friend is a sweet, strong child, he deserves tenderness and an understanding hand. Not like you..." Nasser's smile was dark as sin.

"There's nothing innocent or good about you, is there, Kaname? You _need _pain. You need to hurt. You need someone who knows how to make you scream. How else will you know that you're alive?" Nasser's voice was a soft hiss as he forced Kaname back harder against the wall, their bodies touching, his face very close to that of the younger vampire.

Kaname was horrified to feel an intense, confused shudder run through him at the proximity of the other's body. Hatred, rage and a damning sense of helplessness pumped through him. He wanted to kill Nasser, but he wasn't physically or mentally strong enough. Not yet. _Remember this feeling. You must become strong enough to never feel this way again... _a small voice inside his head whispered, although thought was becoming increasingly difficult.

"You want it..." Nasser purred, his breath stirring the hair by Kaname's ear. "And you want it because you _deserve _it. Everything you touch will eventually turn to ash, little pureblood. It is the curse of our kind. You are not a creature to be loved; nature did not make you so. It is your flaw, your _weakness _that you crave something for which we were not meant. You can only dominate or be dominated. As you are already learning, little one, if you are not strong enough for the first, then it will be the second."

Kaname grabbed a fistful of Nasser's jacket, his gaze darkening dangerously, the air around them trembling. Nasser pushed back equally hard with his own power, their wills clashing silently and making the ground thrum beneath their feet. The older pureblood grabbed Kaname's wrist and pulled his hand away, pinning it to the wall by Kaname's head.

_By the stars... _Nasser couldn't _believe _how good this was. Kaname just kept fighting, he was incredible. _More... show me more... _

"You already have so much blood on your hands, little one..." he whispered silkily. "The rabble hold you up as a descendant of kings because it suits them, but you know the truth, don't you? You are unworthy of your blood. You are dark and _weak _and unsure inside. You need to be punished..." his hot breath caressed Kaname's skin and made it both crawl and shiver at the same time. "I _feel_ that need in you," the elder vampire inhaled deeply, sensually, as if Kaname were a rare and enticing treat to be savored. Nasser's full lips brushed across Kaname's ear, sending unwanted shivers cascading sharply through his body.

"You need someone to punish you for all that you _should _be and cannot... for all that you fear that you should _not_ fear... for all those whom you have failed, and will continue to fail..." the words were like smooth, deft scalpels, cutting deep with surgeon-like precision along the all the fault lines in Kaname's armor, playing on the young vampire's own innate feelings of failure and inadequacy.

"Stop," Kaname grit out through his teeth, his head swimming, but in his own ears his gasping breaths sounded treacherously shaky and disgustingly _weak_. He felt that Nasser saw too clearly, too deeply into his dark heart and it left him feeling vulnerably raw. _Yes... he did deserve to be punished. Maybe part of him even wanted it, feeling the need for penitence, for absolution because of what he was, and what he felt he could never be. For his weaknesses... for failing his parents, for failing Yuki, for being an idiot and incurring Nasser's anger and interest in the first place, for all the blood that had been spilt these past years because he'd not been smart or strong enough to stop it... _Kaname fiercely battled the tremble that wanted to take his limbs as Nasser's pheromones all but drown him and his own insecurities were used ruthlessly against him.

Nasser smiled in deep, cruel satisfaction as he felt Kaname wavering. His skilled tongue ran lightly down the slender, pale curve of the boy's tempting throat. "You _need_ to be touched by someone who does not worship you for the bloodline of which you are unworthy," he murmured darkly, feeling Kaname's pulse pound under his lips. He was still mentally struggling, but not quite as determinedly as before. "You need someone who is not afraid to punish you like you deserve. Like you _crave._" His grip tightened and he rocked Kaname's hips back against the wall with his own, gratified to feel that the boy was hard despite himself. Of course, considering how heavily Nasser was leaning on his pleasure receptors, Kaname would have had to be dead to _not _be responding.

Nasser felt himself shiver as Kaname's resistance slowly started to crumble, but it was not going down without a fight. If the boy actually knew how to use his innate strength properly and had not spent the last few years being stifled by nobles who were more than happy to keep him as helpless as possible, then he would already be quite a formidable adversary despite his youth.

Fortunately for Nasser, Kaname was nowhere near able to utilize his full potential yet and the elder pureblood was very good at what he did. He'd found the boy's weaknesses and was not hesitant to exploit them fully. Kaname wanted too much to be whatever he felt he was supposed to be, cared too deeply about the responsibilities of his blood and about the welfare of others. He assumed accountability for things that no sane person would have laid at his feet and felt failure when he could not control their outcome. What was more, the boy had a delightfully masochist streak inside him that was fed nicely by a sense of inadequacy due to the early tragedies in his life and the pacifist notions from his parents, which made Kaname feel that the inborn darkness of the vampire within him was something evil that should be repressed and punished.

Many people could be controlled by praise and flattery. The Ichijo boy for example, if Nasser wanted to get him in his bed while maintaining the illusion that it was the boy's own idea, he would have praised and flattered and taken an interest in him until the blonds' head was completely turned from all the attention to the point where he would do whatever Nasser wanted because he didn't want to lose the perceived affection or disappoint the older vampire. But that was not the tact to take with _this_ boy. Kaname was too guarded, too clever and too jaded for that. He was far too accustomed to being surrounded by insincere sycophants to be wooed by approbation.

No, he didn't have to flatter Kaname to control him, all he had to do was feed Kaname's own inner demons and agree that he was a weak, pathetic failure with no hope of redemption, someone that no one could ever love. That, and the hold he had already gained over the boy's body was enough to get inside his shields, allowing Nasser's will to be dominant. All he had to do was make the boy feel utterly worthless to the point that nothing mattered anymore and he could do whatever he wanted with him. And it was surprisingly easy to make young Kaname Kuran feel worthless.

Nasser's knee slid between Kaname's thighs, his leg placing steady, suggestive pressure against the younger pureblood's stiffening body and making Kaname's pleasure drunken senses reel harder.

It was so damn hard to think, Kaname felt as if his body was on fire. He burned with a horrible, shameful desire that only further brought home Nasser's condemnation. This man had raped and abused him against his will, and here he was feeling out of his mind with excitement and arousal due to his proximity. What the HELL was wrong with him? If he could feel like this, it meant he was dirty, sick and twisted inside beyond all belief. A hopeless half-sob of despair and arousal choked the young vampire as Nasser's skilled hand slid under his shirt and across his stomach. The touch was cool against the boy's heated skin and yet trailed ribbons of fire in its wake as it slid beneath his waistband and into his pants.

Kaname's face burned, his heart thudding wildly and his body screaming in giddy, drugged desire as those long, skillful fingers wrapped around his tender, turgid, burning flesh and squeezed, teasing and chafing in a manner that nearly destroyed his reason.

Nasser's hot mouth pressed against his and Kaname tried to turn away, but his head felt fuzzy and his will weak. He felt like he was drunk or high and resisting did not seem so terribly urgent anymore. Nasser didn't let him turn away and as his traitorously throbbing flesh was gripped even more firmly in the large fist, Kaname unintentionally half gasped, half groaned, sucking Nasser's taste and breath into his mouth. It was a sweet, seductive taste, like almonds and anise, but the younger vampire hated it. He hated Nasser's taste, his touch and the strange, unforgiveable lack of control he seemed to have whenever the elder pureblood was near... but neither could he fight him. He realized with despair, that he was utterly damned.

Kaname felt himself being lifted, his back pressed against the wall, his thighs pushed open so he could be held in place by Nasser's hips. As if in a dream, Kaname realized his hands were free... but his will wasn't, and he could find nothing in him to resist as Nasser kissed and touched him with those hateful, erotic fingers and lips. He'd determined to fight to the death before letting Nasser touch him like this again... but now, he wasn't fighting at all, was he? It was all a big, hideous, horrible joke. Nasser had been right all along.

Kaname felt futile, hopeless self-hatred burn inside him. He couldn't even focus his anger at Nasser this time, because it was his own screwed up body that he couldn't get to obey him, that he couldn't get to repel the other's advances. Desire, shame and hatred warred within him, making him nauseous. His lungs felt tight, as if someone was squeezing his chest. It was hard to breathe and he found himself continually gasping for air.

Nasser's mouth sealed over his, using the needy gasps to push his tongue possessively into the boy's moist heat, exploring his conquest with lavish thoroughness while denying Kaname the air the boy's heaving lungs wanted.

Through the pounding in his ears, Kaname heard footsteps approaching down the hall. Panic spiked hot and hard in his gut as the fear of being found like this pumped adrenaline through his body. _No! No one could see, no one could know! _He tried to struggle but it only came out as a shudder, unhelpfully pressing him harder against Nasser's body while his mind spun with shame and fear.

With an effort, Kaname managed to pull his mouth away, head turning to the side just as the footsteps stuttered and stopped. Time seemed to hang still and heavy for a moment as the young pureblood found himself staring into a wide, shocked pair of green eyes.

Takuma had changed and washed and returned with the intention of seeing if the ruined statue had been discovered yet. If not he'd been of a mind to get one of the servants to help him clean it up and perhaps hide it from his Grandfather, but in the sudden shock of what he found instead he didn't even notice that the sculpture was no longer broken. He stood utterly still as if he'd been frozen to the floor by the unexpected sight of the two purebloods making out, their bodies intimately entwined.

The young blonde's face colored deeply, his whole body flushing as a strange, uncomfortable heat rushed through him, setting him on fire. He was surprised, embarrassed, envious and aroused at what he saw. The raw, jumbled mix of emotions were not a gentle combination and he did not know how to deal with the conflicting sensations.

_Was this why Kaname had been trying to keep him away from Nasser? Why he kept sending him away and acted so strangely whenever it looked like the two of them were a little too close? Had Kaname been __**jealous**__?_

Takuma was more than a little stunned. He'd had no idea, no inclination that Kaname might share his interests - both in their own gender in general and in Nasser in particular. He felt strangely betrayed at finding out like this. _All you had to do was say something... why did you let me think I was alone?_

Nasser calmly lifted his head as the kiss disengaged, his hand caressing a slow, possessive and provocative line from Kaname's knee to his hip. Kaname's legs were loosely tangled around him, their bodies pressed suggestively close. The air was thick with the elder pureblood's pheromones and Nasser's eyes were dark with lust. He looked both deadly and beautiful, passionate and untouchable. The weight of that gaze made Takuma's heart jolt in his chest when it landed on him.

Kaname was flushed and his clothing disheveled. His lips were attractively rosy from kissing and his dark eyes appeared glazed and lost, lidded with what Takuma could only assume was pleasure. The hallway seemed somehow much darker than it had before and the unearthly shadows clung to the two supple bodies in an unnatural manner. Their pale skin was almost luminescent in the inky void, as if the light being sucked out of the air was somehow radiating through them instead. Their heady arousal pulsed in Takuma's senses, making his body vibrate like a crystal glass which echoed the humming vibrations that they put off.

_They were not like him._ That truth was painfully clear in a way it never had been before. They were perfection, made of night, shadow, power and seduction. Takuma couldn't breathe. He suddenly felt very alone. The stark, perilous beauty of the scene staked through his heart almost like pain. Almost like betrayal. Or maybe more like jealousy, although none of those emotions really made sense. He was the intruder. He should not be here, should not be seeing this forbidden vision, but he couldn't look away.

As he stared at them for that never-ending heartbeat in time, he honestly couldn't be sure _who _his confused, miserable spike of jealousy was directed towards. Kaname, because he was in the arms of someone Takuma had a pretty huge crush on? Or Nasser, because he was touching Kaname, was pleasing _his_ friend in a way that Takuma had only ever dreamed of doing.

The moment broke and Takuma realized he was standing there, gaping like an idiot. Both Nasser and Kaname were staring at him silently. Nasser's gaze seemed amused and Kaname's perhaps embarrassed. Takuma couldn't tell, he wasn't looking that closely, nor was he in any mental shape after this shock to process whatever he saw. He wished he had not come back here at this inopportune moment. Walking in on his friend with a girlfriend or something would have been embarrassing enough, somehow this was a million times worse. His face burned ever more painfully and he turned quickly away, running back down the hall as fast as he could, needing desperately to escape. His steps echoed in the silence before fading away.

Kaname watched Takuma's blonde head disappear with numb, stunned anguish. The flash of hurt betrayal in the green eyes haunted him. He'd seen what Takuma was thinking clearly enough in his expression. How horribly ironic... Takuma was jealous. Takuma thought he'd been trying to keep Nasser for himself. Takuma thought he _wanted_ this.

Kaname closed his eyes, his dizzy, spinning head falling back against the wall as Nasser's body rocking against his made him all but whimper. Maybe Takuma was right. Maybe Nasser was right. Maybe he was just lying to himself to try and make the truth less ugly. After all, his own _body _seemed pretty sure that he wanted this. His mind and his heart objected violently, but they didn't seem to matter. It was like his brain and his body had separated and he couldn't figure out how to reconnect the severed pieces.

Nasser murmured seductive nothings against his neck and Kaname shivered. He found his arms wrapping around Nasser's shoulders almost of their own volition, his body molding against the larger body with a willing surrender that made the young pureblood sick somewhere inside.

He didn't know how he could be willing and unwilling at the same time. He vaguely wondered if the council was actually right and he _was_ going crazy. Maybe they too had seen what he simply could not. Crazy people didn't know they were crazy, did they? Maybe he was already mad. He must be. He must be, or he wouldn't be doing this, wouldn't be touching Nasser in any way but to try to hurt him.

_Was this what insanity felt like?_ He wondered as Nasser pulled him away from the wall, carrying him quickly through the nearby doorway into his bedroom and closing it behind them against any further interruptions. _Did it steal your soul and leave you powerless and screaming inside your own body? Unable to pull away from someone you knew you should fear, should hate...? Did it make you want that which destroyed you? _

Nasser laid Kaname down on his back on the bed, straddling him and undoing the buttons on his shirt. Kaname should fight, but he just couldn't find the strength. His body burned, and his hips arched up pleadingly against Nasser's. He _needed... _God forgive him... he _needed _that which he most hated. _Yes. He __**was**__ losing his mind. Had already lost it. It was the only explanation, unless... unless he was just that _wrong _inside. _

Nasser smiled darkly, grinding his hips down smoothly against the younger pureblood's aching body in promise. "Patience, little one, you'll get your fill soon," he murmured in cruel, cultured amusement that made Kaname feel cold inside from humiliation and apprehension that was unfortunately not enough to quench the fire burning in his groin.

_Maybe he wasn't crazy. Maybe he was simply like Nasser. Dark. Corrupt. An animal who was finally losing hold of the vestiges of a false humanity. What was it that vampires were sometimes called? Beasts with human skin? It was an apt description, apparently. _

His breath sobbed softly through his teeth as Nasser pulled open his shirt and dipped his head to roughly devour the boy's pert, aroused nipples. Kaname's fingers tangled numbly in Nasser's dark, curly hair and he knew with despair that the elder pureblood had been right all along and he'd simply not wanted to see the truth. He was striving for a humanity that did not exist in his nature. He was fighting under the deluded notion that he was anything other than a beast with no soul. He was sick and twisted beyond all salvation. He had to be, to allow or enjoy any part of this. Nasser was right. He deserved this. Deserved all of it. Deserved to be treated like a whore because that's what he was, what he had allowed himself to become.

Nasser pulled Kaname's pants down his hips and the slender body tensed at the touch of the cold air and his own vulnerability. Then Nasser's hot mouth found flushed, throbbing flesh and Kaname was lost. He gripped Nasser's hair harder, gasping and groaning for breath as the dark head bobbed between his trembling thighs.

Kaname felt the slick finger enter him with far more force than was comfortable and his gut flipped, heart fluttering in a stomach-turning mix of panic and arousal as Nasser continued to suck him skillfully. A second and a third finger quickly added made the boy's heels dig into the mattress as he keened softly in both agony and pleasure. Nasser controlled Kaname's pleasure, letting him spiral high, but not climax. By the time Kaname was almost insane from controlled bliss, the elder pureblood shifted up and thrust into the vulnerably spread body firmly and without preamble.

Kaname's back arched and his fingers twisted desperately in the sheets as the hard, thick body was forced deeply into him at far too rapid a pace. It hurt like hell, but Nasser had already taught him well how to derive pleasure from the pain. His keyed up, begging body throbbed and shook with the horrible, delicious sensations as the elder vampire claimed him fully.

Nasser rested his hands on either side of Kaname's shoulders for better leverage and Kaname held onto his arms, looking for some kind of grounding. The words _worthless whore _were freely circling his brain as Nasser pulled back and thrust into him again, making Kaname give a strangled cry. Nasser didn't have to say them, Kaname felt that truth acutely within himself. It was branded on his heart and soul and each movement simply carved the bleeding scars deeper until they cut completely and brutally through the essence of everything he was, altering his self perception forever. When he'd had no choice, he could at least tell himself that it was rape and despite the responses his body gave, he hadn't wanted it... but his hands weren't bound now, and nobody was forcing him to stay.

Something inside Kaname shattered completely - a part of him that not even the elder pureblood's vicious earlier assaults had been able to touch. It was gone now, and with it, the last of Kaname's resistance and pride. There were plenty of full grown purebloods who would have been equally lost because of Nasser's unusual talents and Kaname was as of yet much too young and too ill-trained in the ways of his own kind to realize how he was being manipulated. He couldn't see the invisible bonds of Nasser's will that held him to the bed as surely as any chains. He didn't understand yet about pureblood pheromones, how vulnerable he was to them because of their previous encounters, or about Nasser's special ability in that regard. He didn't realize that he was in about as much control of himself as if he'd been given a massive dose of some date rape drug. He had no way of comprehending that he was just as much Nasser's unwilling prisoner now as he had been when he was drugged and in shackles. All Kaname could see was that he was freely surrendering himself to the man he hated most in the world, and for some sick reason, he was enjoying it.

He was un-savable, un-loveable and unforgiveable. He could never hope to touch Yuki or anyone else who was good and pure without corrupting and destroying them. He understood that now. This was the only kind of pleasure and intimacy he deserved, because it was what he had chosen. His body shook, jolting with Nasser's hard thrusting as it pushed him back and forth on the bed and the young pureblood clenched his eyes, refusing to let Nasser see the tears that stung his eyes. Anger at himself rushed in to fill the void of his despair. Nasser was right... he was dirty, twisted... he needed to pay. _He needed to pay. _

"Punish me..." he rasped in a soft, half sob that was somewhere between anguished plea and husky demand. He had nothing left to lose and it was better if it hurt. That was what he deserved. It was better if these shameful acts tore his body apart like it tore apart his soul. He wanted the pain to outweigh the horrible pleasure. He wanted to rip himself into a million bleeding pieces and scatter them out for the sunlight to scorch. It was too much. He could not cope with this complete split between his body and mind. Nasser had pushed him too far and the lines of sanity blurred dangerously within him, his mind and heart too scarred and damaged to absorb any more horror and destructive self hatred. He was unraveling like a ravaged ball of twine, coming to pieces as the layers of his self worth and even his reason frayed and fell away. The ground was gone from under his feet. He could see nothing but darkness on every side. He was alone. He was worthless and unworthy. There was nothing to stop his gut-stealing plunge into the aching, burning void below.

Nasser's face lit with cruel enjoyment as he gazed down at the boy, his body ablaze with the intense pleasure of roughly plundering the youth's tight, resisting heat and the amazing sensation of his prey finally submitting to him. Kaname's unprompted entreaty was unexpected and a total delight. Kaname was a real gem for a complete sadist like Nasser. With the proper manipulation, the boy could be made to all but _beg _for it. Nasser was too aroused and enflamed with his own sensations to fully realize that in forcefully breaching Kaname's will, he'd done perhaps more damage than even he intended. He was a little too intoxicated with the incredible high of Kaname's surrender after the intensity of their struggle to notice that the boy's mind was starting to crack around the edges like steel that had finally been bent past its breaking point.

Nasser caressed Kaname's flushed cheek with deceptive gentleness as he pressed the boy's trembling thighs even wider apart with his knees, angling for maximum penetration as his pace increased unbearably. "Of course, Kaname," he purred in a tone that would have been soothing if not for its dark, silkily sadistic edge. "Anything you want..."

Kaname's back arched, his hands scrabbling against the smooth skin of Nasser's arms as a scream ripped from his throat, Nasser's body spearing into him with a violence that was both extremely painful and brutally satisfying. Kaname pressed the back of his forearm against his mouth, desperately trying to stifle his own voice, not wanting to be heard.

Nasser pinned the boy down and rode him hard, flooding him with continued pheromones and drawing from him more muffled cries of agony and bliss. The sound of slapping skin, panting breath and rustling sheets played like a soundtrack to the porno flick of Kaname's nightmares. Reality warped and all Kaname became aware of was the smooth, damp, devastating sensation of Nasser's skin sliding against his, the hard planes of the other man's body and the agonized pleasure swirling through him. Kaname clawed Nasser's arms and his back, not fighting, just wanting to feel the sensation of rending flesh mingled with the dark ecstasy building inside him.

The room was scent proofed, and Nasser didn't stop him, hissing with pleasure at the fiery ribbons being drawn upon his skin. "Don't worry, Kaname," he murmured darkly around his own increased breathing, the feral glint in his dark eyes burning brightly as he slammed into the boy hard enough to tear him open with every stroke. Their inhuman bodies healed the damage they were doing one another almost as fast as it was inflicted. "We're two of a kind, you and I. I understand you. I know what you need... and I'll make sure you get it."

* * *

Kaname awoke slowly. The reality of everything he had done before falling asleep clung to him like the scent of sex and blood which was still heavy in the cool air. The thoroughness of the way Nasser had used him was made evident by the fact that his body actually still ached dully, inside and out. He didn't know why that was since he probably should have healed by now. Maybe it was all in his head.

He would have liked to think that it had all been only a dream, but the warm, solid shape of Nasser's body against his back didn't allow him even those few moments of denial as consciousness returned. No. He couldn't pretend. He and Nasser had fucked like there was no tomorrow and he could not undo it now.

Kaname had the sheets pulled up to his chin, but they were tangled up around the two bodies on the bed and left most of his back and side exposed. Kaname made no move to fix them or cover himself more fully. It was pointless. Everything was pointless, actually. He wasn't sure why he was breathing, it seemed like such a waste of air, but his lungs carried on of their own volition. Stupid things. They should stop. He should cease to exist. He didn't know why he still existed. It was weird somehow, like nature had made a mistake. His mind felt as raw as his body and yet his damaged, violated senses also seemed to have been temporarily burned out, overloaded by Nasser's abuse. He couldn't seem to process how he felt about what had happened, or about anything. He felt everything... and yet he felt almost nothing.

Nasser was apparently already awake. His long, warm fingers trailed lightly and lazily across Kaname's naked hip and up his side. Kaname was too exhausted and emotionally numb to even shudder. He didn't know anymore, whether he liked Nasser's touch or hated it. It didn't really matter ultimately, did it? He was just as damned either way.

His body still hummed tiredly from all the pleasure Nasser had given him. Last night had been physically incredible... and completely, emotionally devastating. He didn't know why he'd done it, but now he could never take it back. He had lost everything.

Nasser pressed a light kiss onto the back of the young pureblood's neck. He was all gentle touches and seduction this morning. It made Kaname sick inside, but at the same time after all the pain, guilt and emotional agony... part of him craved it too. That part of him, which he hated intensely, wanted and needed the illusion of caring that Nasser was presenting. The physical closeness they had shared naturally inspired a desire for emotional intimacy. You wanted to feel like you meant something to the person you'd been with. Like you weren't a complete whore, even if you really were. Kaname felt so alone and so worthless, he instinctually craved some gentle touch, some kind of comfort... even, apparently, if it came from the hand of his tormentor. The young pureblood thought hopelessly that his inner depravity apparently knew no bounds.

Behind Kaname, Nasser smiled, perfectly aware of what the younger pureblood was feeling. It was quite natural for his confused heart and body to be craving affection. People were very predictable. If you hurt them and made them feel worthless enough, then they were like dry, cracked earth and would hungrily absorb any drop of moisture, no matter where it came from. Some people called it Stockholm syndrome, some people called it brain washing, but whatever you wanted to call it, the truth was that people, both human and vampire, would adapt to their surroundings in order to survive. Break them enough first, then build them back up again so _your_ affection, _your _approval was the only one that mattered, and they were yours for life.

Nasser knew the game well enough for it to almost be boring, except that Kaname was so strong and unpredictable it made it interesting again. Normally, he could be sure what the outcome of his next move would be, but with this boy, he wasn't certain. The uncertainty was exciting, it interjected more risk into the equation. Nasser silently weighed whether he should make his move now, or wait until he was more sure of his control over the boy. Either way presented potential difficulties. Now was possibly the most opportune moment, so he decided to take the gambit and see what happened.

"I have to leave, Kaname," he murmured softly, still exploring the other's soft, flushed skin. Nasser pushed up on his elbow so he was leaning over the other pureblood. "Urgent business back home."

Kaname had the feeling Nasser was lying, but he didn't care. He should be thrilled that the bastard was leaving them, but instead he just felt empty.

"Come with me," Nasser whispered softly and he felt Kaname's body tense in surprise. His arm snaked smoothly around Kaname's waist, softly fondling his manhood. "You don't belong here, with these low bloods. They seek to strip you of your power and devour you and you know it. They want you for their pawn, and if they cannot have that, they will try to destroy you. How long do you think Ichiou is going to be able to control his lust for your blood? You know what I'm talking about, don't you?"

Kaname shivered softly, as much from Nasser's words as from the sensation of his ministrations. He shifted a little, wanting to escape but having no place to go. That summed up his whole life rather well, actually. Nasser was quite right about Ichiou, he was a threat of which Kaname had to constantly be wary. The other nobles too. He had to play their game and pretend he was grateful for every hurtful and humiliating thing they did so that they wouldn't turn on him before he was ready.

"Let me take you away from here," Nasser coaxed, pressing his warm, larger body against Kaname's slender back. "The Council wouldn't dare threaten you anymore if you were under my protection, and I have plans, Kaname... plans the whole world will soon feel down to the depths of its decaying core. The world is full of useless, misguided souls like that supposed Council of Elders, but they are all blind. They can't see their own doomsday clock as it silently counts down the end of everything they know. It's drawing close to midnight, Kaname. I think you _could _see it. You could be part of it, one way or another. I know you want to change the way things are... but you're thinking much too small. Let me show you what you haven't yet begun to dream about."

Kaname remained silent, too numb to try to put much thought into following Nasser's tantalizing hints about whatever game he was playing. Nasser caressed his body with deliberate, encouraging tenderness.

"I know," the elder pureblood murmured. "You're thinking you would be exchanging one cage for another. But it wouldn't have to be like that. I've been hard on you, I've hurt you, but there were things you needed to learn, things you would never have accepted from me otherwise. If a limb has been set wrongly, sometimes you need to break it before it can grow correctly. Life is not a gentle teacher, but that's done now. I think we understand one another. I can be very good to you, Kaname, if you give me a chance. I can teach you to use the darkness inside you instead of fearing it. I can teach you how to lay the world at your feet and be strong enough that no one can ever hurt you again. Even me, someday. Wouldn't you like that? Don't you want to be free?"

Kaname continued staring ahead, his head buzzing with a confused jumble of thoughts and feelings that somehow felt more like white noise than actual sensations. _Yes. Yes he did want to be free. _His life was unbearable, even more so of late. Everyone wanted to use him and he was sick of being used. He felt so wretched and worthless now that the price he would have to pay for that freedom didn't seem to matter anymore. No use fighting for what he'd already given away. Nasser had been right about so many things, he was probably right about this too. Kaname could become all those things he promised. He could play a new game. He could bide his time, learn everything Nasser had to teach him and then kill him someday when the older bastard was no longer expecting it. Wasn't one master better than a whole crowd of them? Wouldn't he be better off?

"No," Kaname said simply, his tone as empty and hollow as his unmoving gaze. The word seemed to come from somewhere else, but it felt right when he said it. No... that wasn't quite true, it didn't feel _right_, nothing felt _right_, but rather, it felt like the only thing he could say.

Nasser was a little surprised and it was his turn to tense ever so slightly. "No?"

Kaname could hear the momentary confusion in the other's voice. If he'd had anything left in him to feel with, he might have enjoyed that.

"You don't want to be free?" Nasser's tone was all coaxing seduction, but Kaname was past responding to that too. He shouldn't still be breathing, but since he was, he knew where his path lay. It had been set a long time ago and he could not change it now. He _would_ not change it now.

"Of course I do," Kaname's voice was still empty and devoid of emotion. "But not with you. I can never be your protégé, Nasser. I cannot leave, and I won't." Nasser couldn't know that he was fighting a losing battle, perhaps the only one he'd ever encountered. He hadn't a chance of tempting Kaname away from this "prison", because Kaname knew if he left, he would never see Yuki again. Even if he knew he would never be worthy of even breathing the same air as her anymore and could no longer associate with her for fear of tainting her with his inner depravity... he had a promise to keep. It would not let him go. He would not _let_ it let him go until he was ash and dust blowing on the wind. Everything else he thought about himself might be a lie, he might be damned beyond salvation, but that one last betrayal was one he simply would not commit.

"Cannot, or will not?" Nasser's breath was hot against his ear. He leaned on Kaname's senses, seeking the reactions he'd become so used to getting... but this time, Kaname didn't react at all.

"Take your pick," he said simply, offering nothing more. "Does it matter?"

Nasser froze slightly, unnerved by the complete void of response that was meeting him. He took hold of Kaname's shoulder and rolled the boy onto his back, leaning over him on one arm and gazing quizzically into his eyes. What Nasser saw, almost frightened him for a moment. The fiery eyes were empty. There were no answering responses from Kaname's vitals when he put off the chemicals that had driven the younger vampire crazy last night. Something had turned off in Kaname's brain. Either Kaname had actually, unconsciously turned it off himself or Nasser had misjudged his assault and done far more damage then he'd intended.

_Shit. _Kaname had fought him so strongly, he'd had to push so hard and it had excited him so much... perhaps he had not exhibited as much restraint and finesse as the situation had warranted. It was possible that he'd risked overloading the boy's endocrine system and burning out the very synapses he had so usefully stimulated. That had never happened before, at least, not by accident. But then, no one had ever managed to fight him that long either.

This was _not_ good. Nasser wanted to control Kaname, but he did not want him mentally neutered or damaged. It would destroy the boy's unique potential and the position for which he wanted to mold him. Nasser was utterly shocked to feel an actual pang of regret and fear at the possibility of having made a miscalculation that would cost him the chance to play the game before it had even fully started. Those were two feelings he'd not felt for longer than he could remember.

"Ah, Kaname..." he murmured softly, with a small, wry shake of his head. He realized with no small touch of irony that in a way, his preoccupation with the younger pureblood had suddenly become a kind of weakness. For once, it was a weakness he was willing to endure, however. It was the only time he had ever felt like such a vulnerability would be worth the risk. After all, he supposed... what made a high stakes game, was the fact that the stakes were _high. _

Holding Kaname's head between his hands, Nasser leaned down and kissed him softly. Kaname did not respond, nor did he try to pull away. He just lay there as if he didn't care one way or the other, which at the moment, he didn't. Carefully, Nasser reached out and explored the damaged map of Kaname's internal workings. He had rarely ever used his ability to _repair _instead of harm, but it was simply the flip side of the same coin and it was not difficult for him.

Kaname felt very strange. There was a weird tingling sensation in his body as Nasser kissed him, but not the normal kind. Feeling started leaching back into him like dirty dishwater into a sponge. It was not a welcome sensation. Even so, there was still a dull, hopeless numbness governing him.

When Nasser drew back again, he tilted his head curiously, still trying to get a response from Kaname. There was something strangely intimate about the look, and not in the way that they had been intimate previously.

Kaname gave a small shiver and closed his eyes. "Still not going with you," he murmured, his voice empty and tired, although there was at least a flicker of resigned despair in his gaze now.

Nasser frowned. He had set right the damage to synapses and neurotransmitters, there wasn't anything physically wrong with Kaname now... but there was nothing he could do about the fragile, numb state of Kaname's battered psyche. Even Nasser had to admit that there was that one indefinable level of mental health and awareness that transcended the physical sensations of the body. Kaname had apparently been damaged psychologically and was going to need time to heal.

"Kaname..." Nasser murmured, tender and coaxing now, playing to the boy's obvious mental state, even as it concerned him a little. "I know you're hurting. Let me take care of you. Let me make it all better... I can, you know. I can take away the pain..."

Kaname's eyes stayed close. "I need my pain. It reminds me I'm alive. Remember?" there was no mockery in his voice, just dead, simple fact. "You can't take it away. No one can. I've earned it. Just go, Nasser. I can never be what you want me to be. You're right. I'm too weak and flawed for that. You'd only be disappointed someday."

Nasser felt an unusual swell of shock, frustration and chagrin. He could not have anticipated this response. Somehow... he'd played this wrong. He'd not expected this total, unreasonable wall of resistance when Kaname should have been able to offer him none. There was nothing to hold the boy here and given his obviously fragile psychological state he should be acquiescing easily or even _jumped _at the chance! What was it he'd thought earlier? Kuran could be unpredictable? Well, that certainly was true. It irritated Nasser... but at the same time it just made Kaname even more attractive to him.

Kaname said he was too weak and flawed, but Nasser knew otherwise. Those were the things he told the boy to control him, not what he truly believed. The fact that Kaname was completely thwarting his plans right now proved that.

Quickly readjusting to a new strategy, Nasser let the matter go and stopped trying to pressure him to change his mind. Continuing to press at this point would make it seem like he was desperate and cared too much whether Kaname came or not. That wouldn't do, that would give the impression that Kaname had some kind of power over _him. _No. Kaname needed to come to him of his own free will or the move was worthless. That obviously wasn't going to happen right now, and Kaname was probably too fragile mentally for him to do much more at the moment without risking creating an even more unstable situation. He needed to back off and give Kaname's mental health time to normalize and give the chain reactions he'd already moved into place time to mature on their own. A good strategist knew when he had to play a waiting game.

Kaname _would _come to him on his own. He just needed to give the boy a little time to pull himself together, to remember how unbearable his situation was here, to think about what he'd passed up and to start really missing and hurting for the pheromones to which Nasser now had him thoroughly addicted.

"Well then, as you wish," Nasser said simply, a note of coolness creeping into his tone. He rolled away from Kaname and slid out of the bed, intentionally withdrawing both physically and emotionally from the hurting, affection starved boy.

Kaname remained where he was as Nasser's warmth pulled away from him. He hated himself for the painful, empty ache of loss that tugged through his chest as Nasser dropped his soothing, affectionate pretenses and his attitude cooled. Kaname knew that's what it was, just a pretense... but right now, he was shamefully ready to accept the fantasy if it dulled sharp, bleeding pain inside him even a little. It was not be, though. He couldn't give Nasser what he wanted and Nasser was only kind so long as you were useful to him. He'd already made that quite clear. Really, he wasn't so strange. Kaname was slowly but painfully learning that the whole world was like that. Maybe someday he'd stop being surprised, stop expecting there to be some unreal fantasy at the other end of the rainbow.

Kaname was so tired mentally, physically and emotionally, that he actually dozed off again while Nasser showered and dressed. The elder pureblood gathered up what he needed for traveling. He'd have his servants pack up the rest of his things and bring them back later. Right now, he knew he needed to leave promptly in order to make his absence affect Kaname more acutely.

Dressed and ready to leave, Nasser stopped by the bed and ran his fingers through Kaname's hair until the boy was fully awake again. He bent down and kissed him lightly. Kaname's fingers knotted a little tighter in the sheet he was gripping to his chest, but he did not otherwise respond. "The offer remains, Kaname," Nasser murmured quietly. "My door is always open to you, and I won't punish you for taking your time to decide," he promised. "Come to me when you're ready, I'll be waiting."

Then, Nasser was gone.

Kaname swallowed softly as he watched him leave, as he watched Nasser walk away from the complete, confusing ruin he'd made of his life. As the door closed behind him and Kaname's horrible, dirty, tainted body started to throb with the empty ache of missing him, or at least missing his pheromones, Kaname slowly felt the horror of what he'd done beginning to reawaken and break through his mental numbness. Silent tears fell slowly to the pillow. _Why? Why had he slept with Nasser of all people? Why did he have to be such a despicable, horrible creature? _

A few minutes later the door opened softly and Kaname's body tensed. He knew it wasn't Nasser returning and realized he was still naked, tangled up in sheets that were stained with his and Nasser's scent and telling the clear story of what they had done. A trembling humiliation filled him, mixed with fear and rage.

He sat up quickly, clutching the covers too him, and found Takuma standing in the doorway with his hand on the knob, his eyes huge.

"I-I-I'm sorry..." Takuma stuttered so hard he almost couldn't get the word out as the air pressure in the room plummeted painfully in response to Kaname's dark, frightened, unstable mood. The noble was obviously deeply mortified for the second time. "N-Nasser-sama had to leave. He asked me t-to make sure his things were in order for his servants..." Takuma seemed to get hold of himself enough to quickly slam the door shut behind his back so that no one else passing by might see or smell what he was.

Kaname gave a soft, somewhat disturbing laugh. "Of course he did." It didn't surprise him one bit that Nasser had sent Takuma up here, intending for the noble to find him like this and make Kaname's humiliation even more complete. It shouldn't even matter, he supposed. So what if Takuma knew what a disgusting whore he was? Kaname had quite literally gotten in bed with the devil, what did he expect?

Anger, pain and humiliation raked their claws up and down his body. Maybe it shouldn't matter, but it did. "What are you staring at?" he snapped in soft, lethal tones when the weight of Takuma's painfully shocked and innocent look became too much to bear. Takuma looked at him as if he were still the person he had been before yesterday... but he wasn't. He never would be again. "Why are you still here? Is this what you want to see?" Kaname threw the sheets back and got to his feet, flushed with humiliation and shaking with rage that really had nothing to do with Takuma but was finding an outlet there anyway.

Takuma's cheeks turned even redder as he looked before he could stop himself and then quickly pulled his gaze back to Kaname's face and kept it there. Kaname's body was smeared with blood in tell-tale places, but that did not excite Takuma, for some reason, it made him feel really bad and worried. He didn't understand what was happening, or why exactly Kaname was so angry, but he supposed he had a right. He'd bungled a lot of things, apparently, not understanding how his friend was feeling.

"Is it?" Kaname hissed, his aura so dark and unsettlingly unusual that it was giving Takuma an intense headache. "Is this what you want too? That's all I am, isn't it? Flesh and blood that everyone desires. You, your perverted Grandfather and our whole damned race!" _Nobody cares that there's a heart inside the body. Nobody cares that this cursed flesh holds a soul. No one will ever want me for anything but what I can do for them. So why the hell should I care about them? _

"K-Kaname, I don't... I..." Takuma had no idea what to say. Kaname was scaring the shit out of him.

With a snarl that was as pained as it was angry, Kaname simply turned away and stalked to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Takuma heard the shower turn on and he started slowly remembering how to breathe. Maybe a smart person would have taken the chance to get the hell out of there, but Takuma felt worried about his friend and guilty for so many things. He thought maybe Kaname was angry with him because of his grandfather and because Takuma had been so dense about his friend's relationship with the other pureblood. Takuma himself was still hurt and confused over the whole situation, but one thing he was sure of was that he didn't want it to come between them. He wanted to make things right.

Kaname stayed in the shower for almost an hour, cursing the fact that the water couldn't get any hotter, even though it burned his skin. He wanted to cry, but he couldn't anymore. Time was not making him feel better, it was making him feel worse. His body physically ached for Nasser, he was hungry for him in a way not unlike blood lust, although neither of them had really tasted the other's blood in true vampiric style. Kaname punched the tiled wall, making a satisfying hole in it and watching as the plaster dust dribbled into the tub and washed away down the drain with the shower water. His knuckles hurt for a few moments and he tasted the grit of the mortar on them as he licked away the blood. He wanted to destroy. He wanted to destroy everything.

Shutting off the water, Kaname finally got out of the shower and toweled off. Takuma had apparently brought clothes in for him without his noticing because they were sitting in a neat, folded pile on the edge of the sink. It was disturbing to realize he was so distracted that he hadn't even noticed the sounds of motion outside the shower. After dressing and exiting the bathroom, Kaname found that Takuma was still in the bedroom and had apparently been busy.

The smell of bleach and smoke had replaced the other, more humiliating scents in the room. A fire roared on the hearth, devouring the last of the bed sheets and the stripped mattress had been soaked down with powerful cleaning solvent. Takuma may misunderstand the nature of Kaname and Nasser's relationship, but he it was obvious that Kaname did not want it made public. He knew how private Kaname was about his personal affairs. So the noble had taken it upon himself to cleanse the room of any tell tale traces of what had happened, not trusting it to any of the servants and aware that Nasser's people might be showing up at any time to collect their master's belongings.

Somewhere inside his hurting, confused heart, it meant something to Kaname that Takuma was doing this for him, without even needing to be asked. "Thank you," he said quietly, not quite looking at Takuma as his gaze quickly swept the room, seeing if anything left to take care of, but Takuma had apparently been quite thorough.

"No problem." Takuma put the bleach bottle away and unrolled his sleeves. He smiled hesitantly at the pureblood. "Kaname... look, I'm sorry," he apologized earnestly. "I guess I kind of made an idiot of myself. I didn't realize you liked Nasser. I-I wouldn't have gotten in the way if I knew, honest."

Takuma meant well, he was trying to do the right thing and put aside his own feelings for those of his friend. After all, who was he kidding? Purebloods went for other purebloods, he hadn't a chance with either of them. In any case, he considered his friendship with Kaname more important. Unfortunately, Takuma didn't know the truth of the situation and he couldn't know how much of an opposite effect he was having, or how deeply his words cut into Kaname's fragile, agonized feelings.

Kaname shook his head, he couldn't hear this, he couldn't. He couldn't take Takuma acting like he was Nasser's _boyfriend _or something. He couldn't take the reminder of how dreadfully, shamefully willing he'd been. Kaname's hands trembled as they clenched into fists, the urge to smash something returning with a vengeance as he struggled for control. "No, Takuma, don't..." he warned hoarsely, but Takuma misunderstood.

"I know, I know it's no excuse. I didn't mean that it was your fault, it was mine, I should have taken the hints you tried to give me," Takuma pressed sincerely. "I just... I didn't know you liked... you know, guys," he said softly, speaking in a hesitant rush to get it out before he was too embarrassed to continue. "I mean, I know how you feel about Yuki, so I never... but I guess I should have, I mean I like both too so..." he tripped over his tongue, not sure how to say what he was trying to say and rambling a little more than he intended in his discomfort.

Kaname pressed his hands over his ears, shaking, trying to block out the words. He couldn't do this. Maybe if it wasn't all so fresh and raw and his mind didn't feel like it had been run through a meat grinder, he could have handled things better. Maybe then he could have done what he knew he needed to do. He could have nodded and acted like everything was okay and what Takuma was saying was the truth. Could have pretended that he and Nasser were just having some causal, mutual affair. It was the only lie he could go with now to save face, but it burned like acid in his veins. He hated the fact that maybe it was actually the truth. He was so horribly hurt and confused, he just couldn't deal with what had happened and Takuma was accidently forcing him to do so while the wounds were still much too raw.

"Stop..." Kaname groaned, the unstable sensations unfurling inside of him, frightening in their intensity as they seared through his chest like a wave of power expanding outward. He screwed his eyes shut, swaying. He knew he was blowing the situation, Takuma would _know _there was something wrong by his reactions. That made him feel all the more desperate, but he just couldn't stop. He couldn't play the game right now. Hearing Yuki's name mentioned, being reminded of everything he had forfeited and lost just about broke him. "Stop! Shut up! Shut up!" he half raged, half pleaded. The walls closed in around him again, crushing as they pressed down and he felt like something inside him snapped free.

There was blessed silence then and Kaname panted for breath, still clenching his eyes and holding his ears, his body tingling strangely as if he'd just expended a large burst of energy. He swallowed raggedly, opening his eyes at the same moment the powerful smell of blood hit his senses. For half a heartbeat, the young pureblood stood frozen, feeling as if he'd just entered some new and twisted level of hell. For a moment, he couldn't comprehend what he was seeing before him.

There was silence all right. The silence of carnage. Takuma was sprawled on the ground in a swiftly spreading pool of blood. His chest and throat had burst open as if exploded from the inside out. As if an invisible hand had literally yanked his larynx out.

Transfixed with horror, Kaname suddenly realized that this was his fault. He hadn't meant to. Not in a _million years _had he meant to do this, but he'd done the unforgivable. He'd lost control. He was mentally unstable and therefore not fully in charge of the frightful power he possessed. He'd wanted Takuma to be silent, and because his control had lapsed for a moment under the weight of his own anguish... his friend had been gruesomely mauled by a single thought, a single, unformed impulse that hadn't even been meant to harm him.

"Oh God...! Takuma!" Kaname was shaking hard now, crashing to his knees as he stumbled and fell at his friend's side. "No... no! I didn't want this! I didn't... I didn't mean to!" Hands trembling uncontrollably, he fumbled in Takuma's blood, trying to literally put him back together and place his disrupted organs back where they belonged. With a human, that would have been useless, but Takuma was a vampire, a strong one. He could heal, couldn't he? Kaname felt sick, dizzy. _Was Takuma's heart intact? __**Could**__ he still heal? Please, please, let it be undamaged, let him be able to survive! _

Amazingly and horribly, Takuma was still awake and aware. He was obviously in horrible pain, but he couldn't even groan with his throat torn out like this and the only sound was the soft, rasping wheeze of his struggling breaths.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." Kaname was desperate and nearly incoherent. He pulled Takuma into his lap, reaching into his body with invisible hands and trying to repair the damage he'd accidentally done. It wasn't as easy as fixing a broken vase, but he poured all his strength into the effort, encouraging Takuma's natural healing and significantly speeding it up. _Live. You have to live. Please... _

Kaname rocked them both softly, choking as he tried to breathe, focusing with every shred of his will on trying to make sure Takuma would be okay. His eyes stung, his breath caught. _How could he do this? How could he hurt Takuma, who had been nothing but kind to him, even by accident? _Horribly ironic, wasn't it? He'd been so worried about Nasser hurting Takuma, but in the end, he was the one who'd done that. If he'd needed any further proof of his own evilness, this was the last nail in an already overloaded coffin.

Kaname bent his head to Takuma's mending chest, and sobbed softly. He didn't care that Takuma was awake and could hear him do the unforgiveable. His anguish could not be repressed nor comforted. There wasn't enough forgiveness in the world to cover his sins. "I'm so sorry..." he sobbed.

Takuma wheezed softly. His pained green eyes fixed on the side of Kaname's head. He didn't understand what was happening. He didn't understand what was so terribly wrong with Kaname, but something obviously was. He was terrified and in a world of pain, but somehow he knew without a doubt that Kaname had not intended to hurt him. It was an accident, pure and simple. The pureblood's remorse and horror were genuine... as were his taboo tears. Kaname was in anguish. Takuma didn't know why, but through the fog of his own pain he wished he could tell him that it was okay, that he didn't blame him for this.

Weakly, with a lot of effort, Takuma lifted his hand and placed it clumsily on Kaname's head, trying to convey with a gesture what he could not with words. Kaname shook harder. He didn't deserve Takuma's absolution. There was no way on earth this would ever be all right. He could tell that Takuma was starting to mend. Thank God, he was going to be all right. In a few hours, he would be good as new, but right now he was confused and in pain. Why wouldn't he be? His supposed best friend had almost killed him. Kaname wished bitterly that it had never happened. That he could go back in time and undo what he'd done.

"Shh... rest now, rest and heal..." he soothed hoarsely, reaching out and gently touching Takuma's mind to put him into a blessedly painless sleep.

Takuma's body would mend completely as if it never happened, but the mental trauma of what had happened would not fade so easily. Kaname knew all about that. The mind held the scars that their vampire bodies did not. He wished he could spare his friend that. Wished he could take back what he had done so badly... Everything was starting to blur and before Kaname realized he'd even made a conscious choice, he had gone from the simple touch of putting Takuma asleep to the act of venturing further inside his mind and gently wiping away the memory of the past few minutes. His true, single desire at the moment was to spare his friend more pain, but even as he carefully manipulated the noble's memory, he realized with a guilty jolt that what he was doing was probably very self-serving, making it so that Takuma wouldn't remember what he'd done. Well, too late to worry about that now. He'd already proved what a horrid beast he was, no use trying to deny it. He couldn't feel that this was too wrong, after all there was something bleakly wonderful about the thought that the past could be erased so easily. It was as close as he could get to his wish that it had actually never happened. Tenderly, Kaname searched Takuma's mind and carefully smudged out his recollections of seeing Kaname and Nasser together last night, and of finding Kaname in bed this morning.

It was unforgivable, he knew, but if he had to bear all this shame forever, it would be better if he bore it alone. Takuma's knowledge would only hurt them both. Maybe it was completely selfish, but Kaname didn't think he could stand living every day here from now on, knowing that Takuma knew what a depraved monster he was. Maybe that didn't make sense, but honestly, Kaname wasn't really thinking very rationally at the moment.

He was dimly aware of the door opening and someone giving a startled exclamation. Probably one of Nasser's servants coming for his things. Kaname didn't care. Footsteps retreated quickly. He continued to hold Takuma's unconscious, healing body, rocking him gently. He was no longer crying. Numbly, Kaname knew that things were going to get very bad soon. He still didn't care.

"What the hell have you done?" Ichiou's enraged, alarmed voice cut through the heavy silence a few minutes later, the door creaking on its hinges and banging violently into the wall. Kaname glanced up to see his guardian standing in the doorway, looking at the young pureblood with undisguised hatred. Who could blame him? Kaname was holding his unconscious grandson and they were both drenched in Takuma's blood.

Beneath the frightful, tell-tale blood, Takuma had outwardly healed up almost completely by now with Kaname's aid. Inwardly, it was going to take quite a bit longer for him to fully mend. You could no longer tell what exactly had happened to him, or how serious it had been, but Kaname knew that was not going to save him. At the moment, he didn't even want to be saved.

"Get away from him," Ichiou's voice was low and threatening, and a little frightened. "Do you hear me, Kaname? Get away from him, now!" Servants were crowding in the hall now, gaping and murmuring at the commotion. Kaname knew that if Ichijo needed witnesses to support whatever he wanted to claim about the situation later, he would have plenty of them.

Numbly, he eased Takuma out of his lap and struggled to his feet, backing away more because he wanted someone to take Takuma away, clean him up and let him rest comfortably in his own bed than because of Ichiou's demands.

Ichiou knelt quickly beside Takuma, checking on him while constantly darting wary glances up at Kaname. Once satisfied that his grandson was going to be all right and unable to determine exactly how he'd been injured, he picked him up tenderly and passed the limp body off to one of the servants with instructions to clean him up and put him to bed. The elder Ichijo had many faults, but he did care about his grandson after his own fashion. He dismissed the rest of the servants with a curt bark and they quickly scurried away.

Ichiou turned back to Kaname with Takuma's blood on his hands and cold fury in his eyes. "What did you do?" he demanded. There was a careful line to be walked here. Technically, Kaname could do whatever he wanted to someone of lower birth and there wasn't anything vampire society would do to punish him. But in reality, Ichiou controlled Kaname's current circumstances and he would not let something like this go without consequences.

Kaname looked numbly at the blood on his hands. He should be more frightened, he knew. This was going to be bad. He was going to need to be very docile and submissive with Ichiou now or the old bastard would run screaming to the Council that Kaname was unstable. It's what they always whispered anyway, it was the threat that they used to keep Kaname in check. Now... he'd just given them real proof of it and if he wasn't careful, he was going to end up locked in some underground cage for the rest of his life, like Shizuka Hio.

"It was an accident," he whispered dully. "Takuma and I were just... just wrestling," he said lamely, knowing what a horrible lie it was, but also knowing that there wasn't any way Ichiou could actually prove it was a lie, since Takuma wouldn't remember and no one else had been present. "We were trying some new moves and things went wrong. I did not intend to hurt him." That part at least, was true.

Ichiou did not look like he believed it one bit. "_Here? _At this hour?" he demanded.

Kaname just shrugged and wouldn't meet his gaze. "It was an accident," he repeated. "I made sure Takuma will be all right."

Ichiou closed the distance between them swiftly. Kaname felt the wall slam into his back and his head rung, cheek burning as the older vampire shoved him into the wall and slapped him viciously. Ichiou would be in so much trouble if anyone ever saw him doing that kind of thing, but of course no one ever did and Kaname knew better than to tell.

"Yes, I suppose accidents _do _happen, don't they?" Ichiou seethed coldly.

The blow hurt, but after what Kaname had been through recently, it seemed like a small thing. He licked his stinging lip absently and steeled himself, anticipating the following clouts that fell, punctuating Ichiou's words. The ringing in his head increased unhelpfully.

Ichiou must be really pissed, he was usually more careful and subtle than this. Or maybe he just thought he could get away with it because of the compromising position Kaname had let himself get into.

Kaname hated the older man for the way he ran his life and kept him cowed with the continual threat of permanent imprisonment. He felt the anger building in his chest, raw and unstable, threatening to break free as it had earlier with Takuma. It would be so easy to kill him, and Kaname wouldn't feel the least bit sorry this time. It wouldn't be entirely an accident either, would it?

Kaname snapped out of it just in time, desperately stamping down the power building in his chest and struggling to retain control. He couldn't let himself do that. Not only was he terrified at the thought of losing control again, he also knew that although could kill Ichiou, that wouldn't solve his problems. The rest of the Council would still be there and they would have all the proof they needed to lock him away. If there was one thing Kaname could still fear in his current state, it was the thought of spending the rest of eternity in a cage, at the mercy of his captors.

Ichiou knew. He'd seen the dark light flicker in Kaname's eyes and felt the unsteady shifting in the air a moment ago. He knew the boy wanted to kill him and he was both angry and a little afraid. It was one thing to threaten a perfectly sane Kaname with insanity charges in order to keep him in line... it was another thing entirely if he were to suppose for a moment that maybe Kaname _wasn't _entirely stable. If Kaname lost it, he could easily kill them all.

"You're not well, Kaname, you'd better come with me." Ichiou grabbed Kaname's wrist and dragged him swiftly from the room. Kaname knew where they were going and he didn't resist, allowing Ichiou to drag him through the house and down the basement stairs. He knew he had to submit or he would be in even more trouble, and the truth was that part of him actually felt that for once he deserved what was going to happen. He should be punished for what he did to Takuma, it seemed only natural.

They ended up outside the hunter spelled "safe" room as Kaname had known they would. Ichiou tugged open the door to the stone cell and thrust Kaname inside roughly. Kaname stumbled, disorientated by the uncomfortable void that this room created in his senses. His head struck the wall as he slammed into it.

Ichiou followed him in and slammed him against the wall again, the young pureblood's skull bouncing against the stones a second time with an audible crack.

The world tipped nauseatingly on its side and Kaname crumpled to the floor, the room retarding his ability to heal from the severe concussive skull fracture he'd just received. Ichiou seemed to feel less frightened now that Kaname was safely inside the protective chamber and down on the floor.

Enraged by the fact that he'd had to be afraid of the boy at all and by the unfairness that Kaname possessed naturally that which he could never have, Ichiou struck Kaname harshly across the side with his cane.

Kaname winced and curled into himself on the floor, his arms going protectively over his aching head as he tried to pull into as small a ball as possible, protecting his vital areas as Ichiou struck and kicked him brutally. It wasn't the first time Ichiou had mistreated or manhandled him, but it was probably the worst. Ichiou had been scared and it made him savage. His cane opened a small, bleeding welt on one of Kaname's raised arms. It was hidden by his shirt sleeve, but the scent was clear. Ichiou and Kaname both froze.

Fear pounded in Kaname's heart. He was very vulnerable here, in this room. True, Ichiou was affected by the hunter charm as well, but he was physically bigger and stronger than Kaname and the pureblood was currently suffering from a concussion that made the thought of moving difficult, much less fighting.

Ichiou's eyes were red. He was obviously very tempted, but somehow he managed to find the control to resist and remember what would happen to him if he gave Kaname the chance to claim he had taken his blood by force. Giving the prostrate form one more kick in the ribs, Ichiou stalked out of the cell and slammed the door behind him, throwing the bolt and locking Kaname in.

"Enjoy your stay, Kaname," Ichiou's hard voice came to him through the barred window in the door. "You're going to be in there until I can be sure you're not a danger to yourself, or anyone else."

Kaname laughed without mirth, coughing with pain. What a joke. His whole life was a complete and total farce. His harsh, chilling, almost crazy laughter followed Ichiou away down the hall, making the noble's blood run a little cold.

Kaname laughed until it turned into painful wheezes and he fell silent, pushing into the corner and curling up into a ball against the wall. There was nothing funny, but it was an unsettling reaction to everything that had happened to him. Everything was so utterly screwed up that he just couldn't find any hope anymore. Nasser had ruined everything and even now that he was no longer here, the inner yearning he had left in Kaname and the way he'd made him so frighteningly vulnerable remained to continue tormenting him. Hurting and trapped in a cell that wouldn't let him heal, Kaname's head pounded nauseatingly. His thoughts floated and twisted foggily as his bruised brain swelled in his skull.

It was too bad, he thought, that he couldn't get permanent brain damage and just forget everything. As soon as he was out of this room the injury would disappear, but his problems would still remain. He remembered how easy it had been to make everything go away for Takuma, to wipe the slate clean... Kaname closed his eyes. He wanted that with every fiber of his being. He wanted to just forget it all.

_Maybe... maybe he could... _

The thought seeped into him slowly, like the cold that leached into his trembling body from the stone floor beneath him. He _could _forget, if he wanted to. He could erase everything that had happened from his mind, even if he could not erase it from reality. Perhaps if he hadn't already been suffering from a concussion and his head and emotions had been clearer, he would never have seriously considered that as an option, but right now it seemed attractive. No, more than attractive, it seemed like the only way to keep his agonized mind from tearing itself into a hundred little pieces and disintegrating his sanity along with it. If he didn't remember what he and Nasser had done... then wouldn't that stop this horrible, burning ache inside him? You couldn't miss what you didn't remember, right?

In desperation, Kaname turned his whole attention inward. The cell severely retarded his abilities, but it didn't completely block them and there wasn't actually a lot of strength required to alter memories. Drawing a deep breath, Kaname willed himself to forget. His breath caught in a sob as the memories flooded him. _Nasser's hands, his eyes, his horrible touch..._ _No! Make it stop! Make it all just go away! Please..._

The young pureblood dug brutally through his own mind, rooting out and burning the recollections away by force. It was a difficult effort in the current situation and the flow of power ebbed and surged in unsteady stutters within his grasp as he struggled to manipulate it. This was not the gentle, careful touch he had used with Takuma, this was like removing a tattoo by applying a red hot poker to sear the image away. It was stupid and reckless to manipulate his own mind in this manner, in these circumstances. He should never have tried turning his power on himself without a focusing object to channel the energy properly. He should never have tried to do it with his current level of physical brain damage or in a situation where hunter charms were wreaking havoc with his control and ability. But none of that mattered a whole hell of a lot to Kaname at the moment. He wasn't thinking about the fact that he could have accidentally given himself _real _lasting brain damage. All he wanted was to burn Nasser out of his mind and out of his life.

He forced himself not to touch the first rape. He had the vague thought that he needed to remember who Nasser was and that he was a snake to be avoided. Everything else could go, as far as he was concerned. Pain exploded bright and intense inside his aching skull and it felt like there really was a hot poker in there. Kaname cried out, clutching his head in agony, but not stopping what he was doing. _Get out... just get out of my head! _

Blackness descended and Kaname's thoughts finally fell beautifully, mercifully still as unconsciousness claimed him.

Kaname later had no recollection of how long he was inside the cell. He drifted in and out of consciousness a number of times, but because of the damage to his brain from the wall and from his own actions he had no sense of the passage of time. It was less than two days, but it felt like a year.

The next time he was fully aware of his surroundings, he was back in his own room and Takuma was sitting on a chair by his bedside. Kaname blinked as he awoke, feeling confused. He didn't know where he was for a moment and he felt strange, as if awaking from an unusually deep sleep.

Takuma looked worried and Kaname wondered why. He passed a hand down his face, brushing away the lingering fogginess of sleep and pushing up to sit on the bed. Takuma looked relieved as Kaname stirred and then sat up, running a hand through his dark hair as if trying to pull himself from a half-forgotten dream.

"You're awake!" Takuma proclaimed the obvious with happy relief. "You were out for a really long time," he added fretfully.

"I was?" Kaname rubbed his head again as if that might clear it. He remembered being in the "safe room" in the cellar... or he thought he did. "What happened?"

Takuma had brought him a glass of water tinted with blood tablets and Kaname accepted gratefully, suddenly realizing that he was very thirsty.

Takuma shrugged, a slightly uncertain look on his face. "I'm not really sure, honestly," he admitted. "I think you and I were messing around, sparring or something, and I got hurt. I don't know... I remember a broken statue, but it's kind of fuzzy. Guess I hit my head or something. You don't remember either?"

Kaname's brow furrowed as he tried to, but everything seemed kind of jumbled and confused. Yes, he remembered something about Takuma being hurt and feeling guilty... also something about a statue. He could see it in pieces on the floor and then see it molding back together again. Had he fixed it? Sparring... yes, he remembered sparring. Hadn't he and Takuma been sparring just the other day, when Nasser had stopped by for his brief visit? Kaname immediately shied away from those thoughts, not caring to remember much about Nasser. Good thing he hadn't stayed long.

Kaname had never intended to completely wipe the last two weeks from his mind, just edit them a little. But because of his condition when he did it, he had erased a lot more than he intended. He didn't know that now, however. His brain made its own kind of sense out of the jumble of pieces he was left with, sorting them into an order where they could form a reasonable picture. He decided that he must indeed have accidentally hurt Takuma when they were sparring, probably because he'd been unsettled and distracted after Nasser's visit.

He remembered snatches of Ichiou dragging him down to the basement. Remembered being slammed against the wall and then curled on the ground. Bits and pieces of the beating remained in his memory. He remembered pain. A lot of pain. He assumed that the elder Ichijo's abuse and the damage to his head coupled with his stay in the hunter cell was what was making the details of the whole incident difficult to recall.

"Yes, I remember now," he said slowly. "I'm sorry you got hurt."

Takuma waved his hand as if he couldn't even believe Kaname was mentioning it. "It was nothing, but grandfather really went off about it I guess. I only found out when I woke up that he'd put you down in that nasty little room in the basement again. I'm so sorry, Kaname!" he apologized miserably. "I _told _him it was no big deal, I begged him to let you out, but he wouldn't. I wasn't even allowed to visit you. He was spouting all that rot about you being unstable and it being for your own good again. He kept you down there a really long time," Takuma whispered guiltily. "I'm so sorry."

By _'really long time' _he meant it had been more than a day, but Kaname would later come to assume that he had actually been in the cell suffering from his head injuries for almost two weeks, accounting for the gap of time that would otherwise have been apparent in his memories. Naturally, he never spoke about that to anyone so no one ever corrected him. Just as he completely avoided speaking about Nasser and so no one ever set him straight about the length of the other pureblood's visit.

Later, the other missing gap of time between his first altercation with Nasser and when he'd actually returned home several days later would lead him to understand that he _had_ altered his memories of that situation, but he would always assume he had merely blocked out more of the same, and that it was limited to that incident alone.

Ichiou, for his part never attempted to use Kaname's lapse in control against him because he had had a moment of real panic when he'd come back to check on boy almost two days after locking him up only to find the young pureblood curled up, unconscious and unmoving in the corner of the cell. Both Kaname's eyes had been as black and blue as if he'd been punched out and he was bleeding from his nose and ears. Even the scent of Kaname's blood hadn't been enough to overwhelm Ichiou's fear that he'd hurt the boy more seriously than he'd thought or that the cell had somehow done this to him. He may like push Kaname around a little, but he knew what would happen to him if the boy came to any serious, visible harm while under his care.

The fact that even out of the cell, Kaname had remained unconscious for almost eight hours had further given him cause to worry. Because of that and the fact that afterwards he never again saw that flicker of frightening instability in Kaname's gaze, he ultimately opted to never mention the incident to anyone else.

"It wasn't your fault," Kaname shook his head simply, sipping on the glass of red water he was nursing. He felt strangely hungry, like there was an emptiness in his chest he couldn't explain. "I said some ill advised things to Ichiou, I think that's what really set him off." Kaname shrugged. He wasn't actually sure what he'd said, but he had a recollection of his guardian seeming unusually scared and angry, so he must have done something stupid. He wasn't going to tell Takuma about the beating. His friend knew about the safe room, but he didn't know that Ichiou sometimes thrashed Kaname before he locked him in there. No one knew that. Kaname saw no purpose in telling Takuma, it would only further distress him and there wasn't anything he could do about it.

"Well..." Takuma seemed hesitant to believe him. "I'm still sorry." He sighed and slumped dejectedly in his chair. "He's so mean to you, Kaname. I don't understand why he's like that. You must hate us."

Kaname smiled faintly. "_Him, _Takuma. I hate him, not you." The shy, brilliant smile that Takuma gave him in response did Kaname's heart a moment of good.

Takuma took the empty cup for him and when he saw Kaname eyeing it, he refilled the glass and brought him another. He offered to bring food, but Kaname declined. "Okay, then you just relax. I'll read to you," Takuma announced, picking up one of the books that Kaname now realized were piled beside his bed.

Kaname lifted his eyebrows wryly. "Um, that's okay. There's nothing wrong with my eyes, Takuma, I can read for myself..."

Takuma shook his head stubbornly. "No, you're going to rest and relax and I'll read to you." He had vague memories of his mother doing that when he was really little and had been scared or hurt by something.

Kaname shrugged and leaned back against the pillows. "All right," he said with a faint touch of amusement. "But there's something else I want you to do for me."

Takuma's cocked his head, obviously just waiting to be told.

"I want to take the car out tomorrow, just you and I," Kaname said softly.

Takuma shifted a little, knowing what that meant. "You want to see Yuki? Do you think we should? Right now, I mean? What if Grandfather's still pissed?" he said hesitantly.

Kaname didn't care. The emptiness in his chest was almost painful and the blood tablets were doing nothing to sooth it. He didn't realize that it was withdrawal, that he was physically craving Nasser's pheromones. He only knew he ached as if he were desperately hungry. In his innocence, he mixed it up with the other constant but usually much more gentle ache that lived inside him - the one that yearned for Yuki and for the gentle, innocent part of his life that she represented, the one that needed to love someone. "I _need _to see her," he whispered. "I'll go alone if you don't want to risk it."

"No, no!" Takuma quickly shook his head, not wanting to be misunderstood. He wasn't afraid for himself, he was worried about Kaname. Kaname was the one who paid the dearest when they got in trouble. "Of course I'll help. Don't worry about a thing, I'll work it all out."

Kaname gave a small nod of thanks. "Good," he said quietly. "Then you may go ahead and read now."

Takuma smiled and leaned back in his chair, opening the book he was holding and flipping to the first page.

And so life continued on for almost everyone as if the nightmare had never happened. It wasn't long after that that Zero came to live with Cross and Yuki and then Cross Academy was established, providing Kaname the next step in his plans and a welcome escape from the Ichijo house. The years progressed, but years meant little to someone who had lived for millennia and so all that while Nasser had waited, biding his time, waiting for someone who he did not realize had all but forgotten him. Until fate drew their paths back together like the aligning of stars, and he grew tired of waiting.

* * *

_Present Time:_

Zero felt over whelmed by the sheer rush of information and understanding flooding him. It was a strange feeling to be both observing and participating at the same time, like a dream in which you could be multiple roles at the same time. Only, of course, this particular dream was a nightmare. He felt Kaname's horrible anguish in the memories as strongly as if it was tearing his own soul apart, and yet he could also see and understand things from his own point of view, things which he somehow innately knew that Kaname could not see.

Through the shared memories, he could see that Kaname _had _visited Yuki the following day, with Takuma waiting in the car, as usual. He could feel Kaname's emotions for the little girl who smiled shyly and hugged him back when he hugged her. He knew through Kaname's memories that the ache in the pureblood's chest did not diminish upon seeing her that day, but because it became mixed up and melded with his very real and much more innocent love for her, he was able to bear it. As the years passed as Kaname became skilled at resisting and the sensations dulled. Perhaps it did not disappear all together, Kaname couldn't be sure about that and therefore neither could Zero. Perhaps sometimes it would manifest as an intense, bone deep ache for Yuki's blood, once again merging with a need and desire that was already there for other reasons and simply making it even more intense and desperate.

Those things Zero could see through Kaname's eyes. Through his own eyes, he could see that Kaname had not succumbed because love was stronger in him than animal need. He could see that in twist which not even that bastard Nasser could have foreseen, not only did Kaname _not_ end up going to the other pureblood, but because Kaname had transferred all that need onto Yuki, someone whom he loved and would never hurt, he in fact spent years learning how to control himself and overcome the cravings that would otherwise have been the older pureblood's most powerful weapon against him. The caring part of Kaname's heart, which Zero loved and Nasser saw only as weakness, was what had ultimately given Kaname the most strength.

Kaname had been startled, caught off guard and almost overpowered by the leverage he hadn't realized Nasser was holding over him today, but despite that and despite how desperately traumatized he was now by everything that he had remembered, nowhere in him did Zero feel that same addicted draw to Nasser which he had felt in the memories from the past. Judging by earlier, Nasser could obviously still play on Kaname's body when they were in direct physical proximity, but when they were apart, he no longer had the ability to make Kaname crave him. Zero realized with a start that that was not only because of the strength of the resistance that Kaname had built up over the intervening years, but also because that place in Kaname's senses was utterly filled by someone else. The only person Kaname craved now, was Zero.

Zero couldn't have told you how he knew that, but he did. The sheer intensity of the realization slammed into him unexpectedly amid the jumble of everything else. It was warm and beautiful and almost painful to realize in the middle of the rest of the chaos.

All these thoughts rushed over Zero in a tangled web of feelings and impulses which seemed to happen all at the same time, taking only moments to form and process. He held Kaname tightly in that indefinable realm of their joined minds, feeling the invisible impression of agonized shudders running through him. Feeling Kaname's clear and utter conviction that he was about to be abandoned, that no one could possibly love him after knowing all of that.

_"Oh, Kaname...no..." _Zero could barely form the thoughts, choked with a million things he wanted to say and could not possibly begin to put into words. How horrified and sorry he was about what had happened, how murderously angry he was with Nasser, how guilty he felt about not understanding sooner, how incredibly amazing and brave he thought Kaname was to have survived that ordeal, to have been able to go on and accomplish everything he had accomplished with so much pain in his past, to be able to love so beautifully and fully as he did, when his heart had been ravaged so brutally. If only Kaname could understand that far from making Zero disgusted with him, all of this only made him realize anew what a precious, resilient treasure he was holding.

Zero tried to make Kaname feel the truth of that through their connection, but Kaname seemed to be too traumatized to understand. He was still trapped in the memories of his past that were replaying over and over and those were the only things he was capable of feeling at the moment.

_"Stop... you've remembered it all, now let it go. Let it go and come back to the present. Come back to __**now**_, _Kaname, come back to __**me**__... please..." _Zero pleaded. His mind, heart and soul were reeling in shock and anguished horror that he barely knew how to deal with. But he clung to Kaname tightly, as if he would never let go, as if he would hold Kaname for the rest of his life if it could somehow impart to him how much he loved him and would never abandon him.


	20. Never Gonna Be Alone

_A/N: Let the TLC begin... Chapter title is from a Nickelback song of the same name. The chorus of that song is perfect for what Zero is trying to make Kaname understand. :) You must be patient with Kaname in this chapter, even as Zero tries to be. He's been very hurt and is not entirely mentally stable because of how this has all gone down, so it's not easy for him to even think of letting go of his guilt or accepting what Zero tries to offer at first. Sometimes you're so hurt that you can't even hope enough to reach for that which will save you. But fortunately Zero is persistent. :)_

_Oh, and this is another monstrously long chapter (although not as long as the last, thank goodness). There will be more comfort / TLC next chapter too. I want to get back to the plot, naturally, but Kaname really needs a lot of gentle care after everything he's been through and he's going to get it. :) Review responses in my forum, as usual. _

**Chapter Twenty: "Never Gonna Be Alone"**

Slowly, the reality of the present began to return, although it was not immediately recognizable as such. Zero's knees felt cold and wet and they ached dully, as if his lower legs had fallen asleep. He blinked uncertainly, taking in the scene of destruction and broken furniture and then he tensed, wondering what he was seeing now and what horrible thing might be coming next. He'd become so immersed in Kaname's world of memories that he had almost forgotten where they actually were.

Then recognition dawned and he realized that what he was seeing was just Kaname's wrecked bedroom in Night Haven. It was exactly where they'd been all along, even if it didn't feel like it. Zero _felt_ like he had traveled thousands of miles and lived years in this brief span of time. After having been so closely joined to his lover's mind it was slightly disorientating trying to re-adjust to reality and keep clear not only what was present from past, but also what things belonged in _his_ past, and what things actually belonged in Kaname's.

The hunter was no longer figuratively holding Kaname in his mind and was physically holding him instead. They were both kneeling on the ruined carpet in a pool of drying blood that had soaked into Zero's pants and explained the cold wet sensation. Kaname had apparently made the journey back to his body as well because he was no longer catatonic. He was curled forward with his head pressed against Zero's chest, bloody fingers tangled in his lover's shirt, sobbing silently.

For a long moment they remained so, then Kaname seemed to realize that they were no longer relating on a mental level and he swiftly rocked back, sitting on his heels and pulling away from Zero as if he feared soiling him. Like Zero, he felt confused and disorientated, but he wasn't yet quite as lucid as the hunter. He was no longer catatonic, but neither was he fully in the present.

The job he'd done of wiping his memory had not been a clean and orderly one, not by a long shot. Because of the way it had happened and the state he'd been in, he'd burned gouges in his mind, suppressing the memories by layering them with the figurative mental equivalent of scar tissue. That perhaps explained a little of why the disturbing hidden presence of those memories had been making him so unstable the past week or two. Nasser's reappearance in his life brought them back to the surface, making the old scars pucker and start to tear. The repressed memories had been resting uneasily beneath their improper seal and when stirred had hissed up like poisonous steam through the cracks of their prison. It had probably also contributed to why his reaction to having that piece of his mind reclaimed had been so severe that it had chased him into himself. Part... but not all. Much as the tearing open of the old scar in itself might have contributed to his breakdown... the biggest reason was the _content_ of the wound itself. Those memories. Those horrible, horrible memories.

The pureblood trembled, arms hugged across his chest, clutching his own biceps tightly around the bloody tatters of his sleeves as if he could hold himself together... but it was useless, because he knew he couldn't, not anymore. Not after _that_. He couldn't raise his eyes from the floor, couldn't bear to meet Zero's gaze, not after knowing everything he'd just witnessed. Utter, burning worthlessness consumed the pureblood. He'd just relived the most horrifically shameful events of his life, events he hadn't even been aware existed until now, and he'd done it with his lover watching. Zero had seen every dirty, disgusting moment in vivid detail. Zero had both seen and felt what... what a cheap whore he had been. _Oh God..._

Kaname wanted to die. It was not hyperbole, it was a deadly truth. He was still reeling, mentally clouded and trapped in feelings that had almost destroyed him years ago. At this horrible moment, he truly craved death over the agony of living with this shame, of having it come between him and the only meaningful, lasting love he had ever found in his life. If Zero had not been here with him right now, the pureblood might have done something desperate and utterly tragic before his head cleared enough to think things through. He knew where Zero kept his hunter weapons and he knew how to use some of them. He already felt like his life was over. The agony of having these old wounds torn open and reliving everything that had almost claimed his sanity years ago was too much. He'd not remembered it, so the trauma had never been dealt with or given a chance to heal. It was as fresh and raw as if it had just happened. The pain clawing its way through his insides tore at his gut and shredded his lungs, rending him unbearably.

Kaname was rocking again, hiding his head in his hands. His fingers were stiff with agony, nails digging and clawing unmindfully at the sides of his face as dry sobs shook his slender body. He was starting to slide back into the darkness, his mind retreating from the pain he could not face. He couldn't even find real tears at the moment, he felt like he was in shock. If vampires could have nervous breakdowns, then he was probably having one. _Pathetic. Utterly pathetic. _

He could smell tears around the sickly sweet scent of his own blood, so apparently _somebody _was crying. Someone was crying almost hard enough to sob, but it was out of synch with his own heaves of misery. Kaname felt warm, gentle hands close firmly over his, pulling them away from his face. Kaname tugged free out of instinct, his mind reeling. He hugged himself, still rocking, nails now digging into his arms again as he clawed himself convulsively. The need to punish himself, to tear himself to pieces was very strong within his shaking, shell-shocked mind. He could feel Nasser's hands on his body, could remember the touch of his mouth and fingers, the sensation of his hard body... Kaname choked and gagged, scratching and gouging himself more desperately, wishing he could dig the other man's touch out of his very soul with his claws.

Again, the gentle hands closed quickly over his, gripping his wrists hard this time and hanging on, struggling determinedly with him. Kaname fought the restraining grip and for a moment the two of them wrestled on the carpet, swaying and threatening to topple.

"Kaname! Kaname, stop it! Please!" the ragged plea was Zero's. It was his strong hands fighting desperately to keep Kaname from hurting himself further. It was his voice once again bringing the pureblood slowly back to reality. It was his tears that Kaname could smell. Zero was crying... for him.

Kaname blinked slowly, as if seeing his lover for the first time. The amethyst eyes were flooded with agonized tears which trailed without shame down his lover's pale face. Zero's chest was trembling with his efforts to repress the soft sobs wracking him as he pulled Kaname's bloodied fingers away from the pureblood's body and drew Kaname close, enfolding him into fiercely desperate and yet somehow incredibly gentle embrace.

"God, Kaname... I'm so sorry, how could anyone be so... so..." Zero choked, words utterly failing him as he clung to his lover - his wonderful, beautiful, gentle pureblood who had been so hurt when he was much too young by so many adults who should have protected him instead of using and abusing him. Zero couldn't stand it, he really couldn't, his heart was utterly broken for his partner. No one should have had to live through what he'd lived through. He felt sick, angry, and heartbroken all at the same time. He'd never imagined something like that could have happened to Kaname, and at such a vulnerable age. He was stunned, actually, he would have thought, with all the strict laws protecting purebloods... but after living Kaname's memories, he realized much more clearly than ever what a double-edged blade those supposed laws could be.

Zero was briefly glad that he hadn't known all this earlier, when they were in the conference room with Nasser. He would have shot the vampire. To hell with the consequences, he would have shot him on the spot for what he'd done to Kaname. The man didn't deserve to breathe. Then Zero wished he _had_ known, because the desire to do serious bodily harm to the bastard was like a hot poker in his chest, constricting his breathing. He wanted to kill Nasser so badly it burned him. The bloody urge to wrap the sick son of a bitch up in his vines and tear him apart from the inside out was unforgivably strong. After what that man had done, after what Kaname had had to suffer, all alone... it still wouldn't be enough. Hell itself would be too good a place for that man.

Zero pressed his wet face against Kaname's neck, holding him tightly, as if he could pull Kaname into him and protect him from the whole world. "I'm so sorry," he repeated with a sob. "I didn't know. I wish I had been there. I wish _somebody _had been there..." Zero was almost blathering now, the pain inside him and the unbearable desire to comfort Kaname needing an outlet. "My wonderful, precious Kaname..." Zero kissed his neck and his hair, his cheeks and eyelids, still trying to snuffle back tears. He didn't even know what he was saying really, it was just spilling out of him in expressions that he would normally never have used, but which felt right at the moment. "He didn't deserve you! He didn't deserve to even _look _at you! God, I _hate_ him! That Ichiou bastard too! I'm so sorry..."

Kaname didn't understand why Zero was apologizing, but he was vaguely aware of what the hunter was saying. The beautiful tenderness warmed his icy shock and held the broken pieces of his soul together in a gentle embrace that was too sweet and perfect to be believed. Zero mustn't really understand what he'd seen... because if he had, he'd know that there was nothing good about the man he was holding. Nothing clean or deserving of the love he gave so freely.

"I... I didn't remember," Kaname whispered shakily, a softly hopeless tone in his voice as if he didn't feel the flimsy excuse could remotely begin to forgive the sin of having unknowingly kept all that from Zero. "I was weak, and... and a coward... and I made myself forget..." Kaname's voice trembled, he choked slightly on his own words. He didn't know that he could ever feel the same about himself again upon regaining those memories, therefore he couldn't imagine how Zero could either and that was absolutely breaking him. "I...I'm sorry. I'm s-so sorry... I..."

Zero was still feeling rather shocked and stunned by everything he'd just learned, but the anguish emanating from Kaname quickly cleared his head a little. "You weren't a coward, Kaname!" he protested hoarsely. "God... you... you were just a _kid_, you were hurting badly... I mean, who _wouldn't _want to forget something like that?" He held Kaname close, tenderly stroking his back, his hair, anything he could reach. He was full of so much heartbreak and the overwhelming need to give comfort was too strong for him to second guess whether this kind of contact was a wise idea right now. That was just as well, because Kaname desperately needed that gentle, urgent embrace, even as he felt utterly unworthy to accept it.

Zero felt like shit. He realized he had misread Nasser's cruel advances and Kaname's anguished passivity earlier almost as badly as Takuma had unwittingly done years ago. He'd been angry with his lover for something which was not Kaname's fault, and from which Zero now felt he should have better protected him. Never mind the fact that he had actually done pretty much everything that realistically _could _have been done in that situation.

"I was weak," Kaname repeated bitterly, obviously not about to forgive himself anything at the moment. "But I didn't... I didn't remember _how _weak. H-honestly I didn't. I thought it was... just rape. Just that one time. I didn't realize that I... that I..." tears flooded the pureblood's eyes again and he looked both angry and hopeless as he scrubbed at them with his fists, his shame-filled gaze once more seeking the floor. "I didn't remember that I played whore for him like that," he finished, his voice hard with a biting edge of self condemnation that clearly reflected how furiously angry he was with his younger self. He gave a short, mirthless laugh. "No wonder I wanted to forget."

"Don't say that," Zero protested softly but firmly, his voice catching in anguish. "Don't _ever _call yourself that."

"A whore?" Kaname bit off the word in an acidic tone, his dark eyes flashing with pain and rage, all of it directed inward. "It's nothing but the truth. What else do you call someone who willingly falls into the arms of their rapist?" His disgust was so thick that it all but choked him. The pureblood hugged himself again, trying not to tremble. Zero was being incredibly understanding about all this, but he didn't deserve it. Zero had fallen in love with someone who was in essence a lie, and Kaname loved him too much to force him to accept the far more tainted and abhorrent truth.

"I wish I could lie and say I didn't want it, but..." Kaname shook despite himself, feeling again that he truly wanted to die from the shame. "You saw, you know," he whispered in a small, miserable voice. Zero had been there in his head, seeing and feeling everything he had. Zero knew he had wanted Nasser in those moments, even though he _hadn't _wanted him just as much. Kaname buried his face in his hands, unable to stop the sob that shook his shoulders.

He'd thought he could handle what was behind the door. Thought it was just an extended and brutal rape that he had hidden from himself... but the truth was so much worse. He couldn't handle what he'd found, no more than he could at the time it happened. His own complicity in Nasser's later seduction damned him and Kaname didn't know how he could live with himself now. Much less expect Zero to do so.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. It... it's okay. I.. understand if you... if you don't... don't want to..." his voice cracked and he couldn't finish. He didn't even know _how _to finish that sentence anyway. _Don't what? Don't feel the same about us anymore? Don't want to be with me? Don't love me anymore? _That was a lie, then. _That_ would _never_ be okay. Kaname didn't think he could even begin to deal with that loss. If Zero pulled away from him over this, he really would curl up and die, even though he felt that Zero would be perfectly justified in doing exactly that._ There was nothing good within him, nothing. There was nothing worthy of love. _

Zero grasped Kaname by the shoulders and shook him, hard. "Stop it!" his voice rasped with anguish. "How can you be so freaking stupid?!" The words weren't terribly diplomatic, but Zero felt like his chest was getting carved up by a dull razor and it both saddened and infuriated him that Kaname could think this way.

The motion caught Kaname by surprise and he looked up, actually flinching back slightly as if he expected to be struck. Zero saw this and immediately gentled his hold with a pang of guilt, one hand tenderly caressing Kaname's tousled hair. The _last _thing he wanted to do was make Kaname think he was angry with _him. _

"_Stop_..." the hunter pleaded hoarsely, quieter now, his eyes red-rimmed and filled with tears that expressed the deep hurt in his heart. Seeing what had happened to Kaname in the past had torn his insides out and stomped his heart to pieces. It hurt _so badly _to understand the pain his lover had gone through that he could hardly breathe. To see Kaname still beating himself up about it now was unbearable.

"Just... just don't be an idiot!" he rasped in the same soft, hoarse voice, his fingers continuing their gentle stroking as his eyes burned with anguish and protective fury. "Do you honestly think that I love you so little? Do you? That I only care about some unrealistic, idealized image in my mind that could be shattered by something that _was not _your fault? Do I _look _like one of those bubble-headed Day Class girls from back when we were in school? You know me better than that, so give me a little credit, huh? I'm not a _completely_ heartless bastard," he said with a shaky smile, cupping Kaname's cheek tenderly in his palm.

"And I would be, if what I know now changed _anything_ about how I feel for you. I'm not about to turn my back on you because you were hurt. Okay? I promise," Zero whispered. He could see the fear burning inside his lover, and he understood it far too well. He knew exactly what it felt like to think that you were completely unworthy of anyone's love. He also knew the pressure Kaname was constantly under, to fit the image of a pureblood, to be everything that his family line and his own innate sense of responsibility demanded he be.

"I _promise, _Kaname..." he swore hoarsely. "How could I? You hold too much of my heart." Zero's eyes were achingly intense.

Something inside Kaname swelled with a small, urgent surge of hope and amazement. If Zero really meant that, if he really still loved him... then maybe the world was not so utterly dark as it seemed. He was dirty and ugly and twisted, but if Zero could still see some tiny spark in him worth saving, then maybe... maybe... _Maybe what? Maybe you can just keep lying to yourself and him a little longer? Doesn't he deserve so much better than that? What right have you to keep using him and lying to him just because you can't face what you really are?_

The pureblood inwardly crumpled again. It was too hard to believe in second chances when the past kept replaying in his mind, an internal condemnation that was impossible to shake. He didn't doubt that Zero was sincere, but they were both hurting, confused and in shock. Zero hadn't had time to absorb everything yet and his kind heart was leading him to promises that he would regret later. It wasn't fair for Kaname to let him make them. Zero shouldn't promise away something as precious as his heart to someone so utterly unworthy of it.

The pureblood pressed his face into Zero's touch, turning his head and kissing his fingers with trembling lips, needing him much more desperately than he could ever articulate. His lover's assurances were as beautiful and amazing as they were unbelievable. Even if he had no right to accept them, they meant so much to him. Tears filled his eyes from something other than just pain. "But Zero, you..."

"No, no buts," Zero shook his head. "What happened was not your fault."

"But it _was, _Zero," Kaname whispered hoarsely, almost unable to speak. He was too afraid to hope. Hope didn't make sense. "A-and when you finally realize that, then..."

"Then, _what?" _Zero shook his head, agonizingly frustrated. _Why wouldn't Kaname just believe him?! _"_Then _I'll be a heartless bastard and leave you? Stop with the one-track mind! You're stuck with me, don't you get it? I wouldn't leave even if it _had _been your fault and you flat out seduced him or whatever. _Geez, _Kaname, that was like, ten years ago!" Zero shook his head, his tone a little rough, but his eyes incredibly gentle.

"Kaname, I know you're hurting, but I want you to listen to me and try to understand." Zero took the other vampire's face between cupped palms, gazing deeply into his lover's eyes. "I'm not a starry-eyed dreamer. I know you're not perfect, no one is. I'm sure as hell not. I never thought you were, and that isn't something you have to be in order for me to love you. I know it's corny and clichéd as hell, but it's still true - the only thing you have to be, is _you_. That's who I fell in love with. What happened to you in the past was _horrible_, but it doesn't change anything, not to me." Zero shook his head and kissed Kaname's tear-wet eyelids gently.

Kaname's shoulders started to shake again, despite how hard he was trying to hold back the tears. "I-I know you mean that," he said in a hoarse whisper, his bloodied fingers touching Zero's cheek hesitantly, almost reverently. "I'm sorry. I never meant that I t-thought you were heartless, I-I just..." the overflowing tears came harder and the pureblood looked down, unable to continue. Zero's unexpected, incomprehensible caring was a lifeline keeping him afloat, but at this moment nothing could easily erase the pain and worthlessness weighing on him.

"I-I don't know what's wrong with m-me, I'm b-being stupid." Kaname's shoulders shook in earnest as the sobs came. It hurt so badly. He was such an idiot. Zero was still _here. _He was still holding him and being so kind. He still amazingly insisted that he loved him and that should be so much more than enough. But Kaname couldn't stop the pain. He couldn't escape the fear that this was temporary and fleeting. He couldn't pull it together and stop being such an idiotic child about everything despite how hard he was trying. His body still trembled with the horror and guilt of his memories. The past tainted the present with its malignant presence. He couldn't stop feeling Nasser's hands on his body.

_This wasn't right, it wasn't him._ Kaname wasn't _like_ this. He wasn't hysterically unreasonable and childish. He was a very controlled person who did not wallow in his emotions. The fact that he felt so very _out_ of control and alien to himself right now only made everything all the worse and continued to reinforce his notion that nothing he'd ever believed about himself could be trusted. The injury he'd done to his mind in the past when he'd sealed the memories was complicating matters. He had just reconnected with a part of himself that was so damaged and foreign it was like waking up to find a stranger in his head. Combined with the emotional and psychological trauma, it was very confusing and left him feeling like he didn't know who the hell he really was anymore. He buried his face in his hands, shuddering in pain and confusion.

Zero's arms wrapped gently around his shoulders again, holding him close and letting him cry. He curled against the hunter's chest, his body heaving with soft, anguished sobs.

"Shh," Zero murmured soothingly into Kaname's hair. He was achingly aware that his lover had only acknowledged that he believed _Zero _meant what he said, not that Kaname _himself _believed it. A small difference perhaps, but significant to someone who knew the pureblood like Zero did. Kaname was trying not to hurt or insult him, but for whatever reason he still thought Zero might ultimately reject him.

He sighed as he cradled Kaname's sobbing form, rocking him gently back and forth. Much as it made him want to scream in frustration and shake some sense into Kaname until his lover _had _to believe him, he knew that wasn't going to help. Kaname was frighteningly shattered and didn't seem to be all there upstairs. He was badly traumatized and probably needed time and understanding, not asperity and impatience. The pureblood reminded him of a puppy who had been cruelly and repeatedly beaten. Even if the hand reaching for him now wanted only to pet and love him, it was hard for him to trust it, hard for him to not flinch away and expect cruelty and abandonment. The hunter's eyes stung. He felt like he was stumbling around in the dark without a clue how to proceed. He could only hope he would be able to give Kaname the space and understanding he needed. He wanted to so badly.

"It's all right," he whispered, kissing Kaname's dark, messy hair tenderly. "You're not being stupid. You were hurt really bad. It's natural to feel this way, don't push yourself. It's okay to not be okay, Kaname." Zero gave a gentle, pained grimace at how convoluted that sounded, but he hoped Kaname knew what he meant. Zero didn't expect his lover to bounce back like nothing had happened. He didn't have to be strong and invulnerable with him.

For a little while, Zero just held Kaname and let him cry. When the torrent of anguish had tapered off into hiccups and labored breathing and Zero realized he could no longer feel his feet, he decided it was time to move. Carefully, he rose, pulling Kaname to his feet with him. The pureblood followed shakily. His fingers kept a death grip on Zero's shirt, as if they were adrift at sea and letting go might mean drowning. He seemed either numb or dazed and he simply followed Zero trustingly, probably willing to do anything he was told at the moment.

Kaname didn't seem very steady on his feet, so Zero carefully wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling the pureblood in against his side to offer both comfort and support. "Come on," he said softly, walking them both carefully towards the door. "Let's get you cleaned up."

Kaname's room was trashed, and even if the plumbing to his bathroom was miraculously still intact, Zero wanted to get him away from the destruction and the blood. He led Kaname out into the hall and closed the door behind them.

It crossed his mind that he was going to need to find a contractor to fix the structural damage before the rooms were useable again. Until then, Kaname could stay with him. There were plenty of guest rooms, but that seemed wrong. They pretty much lived out of one another's bedrooms anyway. Before he could let anyone in there though, he'd need to clean and bleach everything down. Cleanup was technically Izumi's job, but this was not something that could be left to any of the housekeeping staff. The carpet was soaked crimson and it would not be fair to force anyone else to deal with the effects of being around that much of Kaname's blood. Zero could deal with it without going into blood lust now, but that was only because he fed on Kaname pretty regularly. They were leaving a smudged trail of bloody footprints on the polished wood flooring of the hallway, but that little bit wasn't enough to be concerned over.

Zero's weary mind skittered along all those mundane, unimportant details as a momentary form of escape from the severe emotional rollercoaster they seemed to be riding. He felt exhausted, but he didn't want Kaname to sense that. Of course, Kaname didn't appear to be in any shape to be observant right now. Halfway down the hall, the pureblood unexpectedly buried his face against Zero's shoulder, as if he couldn't stand looking at the familiar walls around him while feeling like such a stranger inside them. His steps became more hesitant and he started stumbling.

Zero carefully scooped Kaname up into his arms and carried him the rest of the way, letting him keep his face burrowed against the hunter's neck, eyes screwed shut. He wasn't sure what exactly Kaname was hiding from or trying to block out, but he held him protectively anyway.

They slid into the ex-human's bedroom and Zero shut the door behind them with his foot. He carried Kaname into the bathroom and had a weird moment of reverse déjà-vu as he set Kaname down carefully in the large porcelain bathtub. He had been here more than once, but always on the other side of the equation.

There was the night some years back when it had been Kaname carrying him to the tub after his failed suicide attempt, when his own pain had been so great he'd not known how he could go on living. He'd tried to end it all, but Kaname had stopped him. The pureblood had forced Zero to live long enough to realize how much he actually had to live for. It was a lasting reminder to Zero that no matter how dark things were and how impossible it seemed, if you gave up, you ran the severe risk of missing out on a whole lot of beauty and happiness in the future.

He also remembered the night when Kaname had carried him into the Jacuzzi, clothes and all, to tend his wounds after two aristocrat vampires had severely beaten and attempted to rape the ex-human to teach him his 'place'. Zero could clearly remember how worthless he'd felt, and how much Kaname's tender love had meant to him then.

So many times. Kaname had been there for him so very many times over the past few years. In a way, you could almost say he had taught Zero how to love, or perhaps more accurately, how to _express_ the love he felt, something which had never come easy to the relationally shy, tsundere young hunter. The pureblood's strong, quiet, constant support and caring had saved his life, his sanity and his soul. Zero desperately wanted to be able to do the same in return. He was almost frightened, knowing that Kaname was the one that needed him now. He wanted to do this right. He wanted to be worthy of his lover. He wanted to take away his hurt so badly it was a physical pain in his chest.

Kaname sat in the bathtub without moving, his arms resting on his drawn up knees, his head bowed.

Zero knelt on the cold tile floor outside the tub and removed Kaname's shoes and socks, setting them on the floor. He ran his fingers tenderly through Kaname's tangled, matted hair. The pureblood was a mess, but Zero wasn't sure the best way to go about this. Trying to get Kaname to take his clothes off right now seemed like a really bad idea. Kaname started to shiver and that finally made up his mind. He unhooked the adjustable shower head and turned on the warm water. Running the gentle flow over Kaname's hair, he washed away the blood and tangles, combing the dark tresses with his fingers. With equal tenderness, he washed away the dried blood caking Kaname's face and neck.

The pureblood was still dressed and his ruined clothes were getting soaked through, but at least the warm water was better than the cold, sticky, drying blood. Normally, Zero would already be stripping Kaname out of his ruined clothes and helping him get a proper wash, but he was hesitant to undress him given the nature of his current trauma. He didn't want to bring up more painful memories or make the pureblood feel any more vulnerable than he currently did.

When Zero first turned on the shower, Kaname had tensed, pulling his knees a little closer. He was unaccountably afraid that his lover was going to try to undress him or expect him to do it himself. A moment later however, he was angry and disgusted with himself for feeling that way. He felt like a crazy pendulum, swinging from one extreme to the other with nothing to balance out the radical shifts.

Zero's touch on his scalp and his face was sweet and soothing, but as the hunter continued to tend him while carefully not disturbing any of his clothing, the pureblood found his raw, mixed up emotions swinging even stronger in the other direction. Zero's hesitancy to go there was clear and hot, sick shame bubbled in Kaname's stomach. He closed his eyes. It was one thing for _him_ to feel uneasy about being undressed. It was another thing entirely to think that Zero didn't _want _to touch his clothing. Part of him understood it for the concerned, considerate gesture that it was, but part of him ached in despair.

It was as he feared. Already, Nasser was coming between them. Zero said what had happened hadn't changed anything, but it had. It was impossible for what Zero had witnessed to _not _have an effect on him and how he saw Kaname. Zero hesitated to touch him now because that man had touched him. Was Zero just trying to be sensitive, or was he secretly disgusted with the thought of seeing Kaname's naked body after knowing how it had been used?

They were stupid, pointless thoughts and Kaname really should have known better, but what you _knew _and what you _felt _when you were hurting as badly as he was hurting were two different things. Irrational fears cut just as deeply as rational ones.

Kaname tensed miserably and tried to not start crying again. He already felt like enough of a foolish baby. He was in pieces over something that had happened _years _ago. He really was pathetically weak. Warm water dripped from the ends of his hair and ran down his face as he stared down at his bare feet and the bloody water swirling down the drain. The water was soothing, like Zero's presence. But Kaname couldn't shake the feeling that a huge Nasser-shaped wedge was silently slipping between he and his lover, tainting what had previously become so natural and easy for them. Considering the incredibly hard won battle it had been to get Zero to open up to him and accept their relationship in the first place, it was a crushing thought. Kaname didn't know if he could bear going back to the way things had been in the beginning, not now, not when he knew what it was they _could _have.

"You were never afraid to take my clothes off before," Kaname murmured hoarsely, without looking up. He shouldn't have said anything, he knew. Zero was being much more wonderful to him than he deserved, it was cruel of him to force the issue rather than just accepting it and swallowing the raw, stabbing pain inside him. But Kaname was like a sodden mop or a dripping wash cloth - he was already too full of hurt, he simply couldn't absorb or contain any more. Like the water running off of his soaked clothing, the excess flow of his anguish spilled from him like a spreading bloodstain.

Zero bit his lower lip, angry with himself that Kaname had noticed his hesitation. He felt like he was being tested and failing. One way he risked making Kaname afraid and uncomfortable, the other way he apparently risked reinforcing Kaname's notions that he had somehow been tainted. He didn't know what he should do.

"Wanna bet?" he murmured with a small attempt at levity, since he had a feeling that trying to deny it would only make things worse. Kaname could usually tell when he was lying, and it _would_ be a lie to say he _wasn't_ hesitant, although perhaps not for whatever reasons Kaname may fear. "I used to be terrified sometimes. Terrified of the way you made me feel, of the way you made me want to live when I didn't think I had a reason to."

Kaname gave a faint, empty smile, acknowledging how skillful Zero had become at conversational evasion and redirection if nothing else. If he had given Zero a reason to live, then he had done at least one worthwhile thing in his life. _That was something, wasn't it?_

With careful, gentle determination, Zero started unbuttoning Kaname's shirt, playing the spray from the showerhead across his shoulders to keep him warm. "I just don't want to hurt you, Kaname," he whispered earnestly. "I wish I knew how to do that. I don't want to let you down, but I feel like I'm going to go left when I should go right and I'm scared to death I'm going to mess up," he chose to be completely honest, despite how stupid and inadequate it made him feel and sound. He didn't know what else to say. Kaname deserved the truth.

"You always seem to know the right way to handle things... I wish I had your eloquence and insight Kaname, I wish I could be as good to you as you are to me. You _deserve_ that, you deserve someone who knows what the hell they're doing. But I'm afraid all you've got is me," Zero murmured with a soft, sad smile. "I'm sorry."

Kaname's shirt was almost completely unbuttoned now and water ran down his pale chest where it hung open, washing away the blood from wounds that were no longer there. Kaname lifted his dripping head and gazed at Zero with anguish in his garnet eyes, displaying clearly the wounds that _were _still there.

"No." Kaname shook his head quickly. "Don't say that, Zero. This isn't your fault, it's mine. There's _nothing _lacking in you. Y-You're all I need. All I've ever wanted..." Some deep, inner pain seemed to flood Kaname's eyes anew and he dropped his gaze again.

_But he's not all you've ever wanted, is he? You wanted Nasser too. Whore. _The voices in his head condemned him and Kaname shuddered. His tattered shirt was undone now and he shrugged out of it almost angrily.

Maybe if he'd been one of those purebloods who had been 'doing his duty' and spreading his seed around since he was old enough to mate, this whole thing wouldn't have made him feel so dirty. Pureblood males were all but expected to mate with multiple partners after all. But Kaname wasn't like that, he never had been. Zero may teasingly think he was a nympho, since he'd always been a lot less inhibited and more naturally sensual than the shy hunter, but for a vampire Kaname was a downright prude. To him, opening his body to someone meant he had in some way opened his soul to them too. The idea that he had chosen to share himself with Nasser in that manner made him physically ill.

He scrubbed himself vigorously with his hands, washing away the blood, if not the memories. Zero put a soapy cloth in his hands and he used it, rubbing hard until his skin was pink.

After a few minutes Zero finally laid his hands over Kaname's, stilling him when he felt that the scrubbing was getting excessive and tilting towards self-abusive.

Kaname reluctantly dropped his hands back to his lap and Zero's hand slid off his wet arm, his palm grazing one of the pureblood's flushed, glistening nipples. Kaname shivered slightly, the soft nub of flesh hardening automatically under the accidental touch. With hideous unhelpfulness, Kaname's mind flashed to a memory of Nasser sucking on that nipple and he screwed his eyes shut. Zero saw the flicker of anguish on his lover's face and quickly withdrew his hand.

Kaname's eyes fluttered open again and he glared silently at the bottom of the tub, once more tormented by conflicting emotions. Every time the memory of some sickening, intimate thing Nasser had done shuddered through him it was extra humiliating because he knew that he and Zero shared the same memories of those events. He couldn't help wondering if the hunter was recalling the same things and feeling the same sense of revulsion towards him as he felt towards himself. Even though he was still partially clothed, he felt more vulnerable and exposed than if he were stark naked and spread.

"I wish you hadn't seen all that," Kaname blurted in a whisper before he realized that he was actually speaking aloud. He immediately wished he could call the words back. They were far too telling and sounded all wrong to boot. His cheeks flushed even more intensely, blotchy with shame. His head dipped lower. "N-not that you didn't deserve to know, but..." He took a deep breath, not sure what to say and wishing he had kept his mouth shut.

He would not and could not have kept this from Zero, not once he remembered it all, but he was incredibly ashamed of the way it had all come out. He cursed himself for his weakness. If he'd been stronger, he could have _told _Zero what happened. That would have been bad enough, but maybe it would have been better than _this_. There was a difference between Zero knowing what had happened and Zero knowing the way he had bucked and whimpered under Nasser's touch, or the way it felt when he was being penetrated. While he did _want _to share everything with Zero in theory, there were certain details one preferred to keep to themselves, some moments so personal and dark that you wanted them to stay forever hidden. He didn't have that luxury, however. Everything had been laid bare under a burning spotlight and it was nobody's fault but his own.

"I'm just sorry you had to see it that way," he finished lamely, his voice hoarser than he intended. He rubbed his arms, hugging himself although he wasn't cold.

"I know," Zero whispered, getting a pretty good idea of how Kaname was feeling from his body language. The pureblood was so private by nature; it had to be hard for him to know that someone else shared not only his secrets but also his terrible memories. Those memories he now carried were so painful that in a way, Zero too almost wished he could forget them. However, he would not have traded what had happened. Painful as it was, he was certain it was better this way. Kaname could never have told him _everything, _even if he'd intended to. Filtered through Kaname's retelling, Zero would only have gotten the pureblood's self-condemning take of the situation. He wouldn't have had the chance to see what really happened or understand so clearly the painful manipulation the young vampire had endured.

"I'm sorry for what happened, and that it hurts," he said quietly. "But I'm not sorry that I know," his voice was soft but firm. Kaname shouldn't have to suffer alone. The pureblood had always been a very intricate, complicated puzzle to try to comprehend and Zero understood so much now that he never had before. Even though Kaname hadn't remembered most of what had happened, Zero could see how those experiences, even the ones buried in his subconscious, had had a hand in shaping his life. He now understood the pain he had sometimes seen in Kaname's eyes and why despite his outward show of casual arrogance, Kaname had always privately treated himself as if he were damaged goods.

Zero found himself suddenly remembering a conversation had in a dingy little hotel room years ago. It was in the wake of the first, crazy time they had made love, back before they'd even really started being civil with one another. Kaname's disturbed fear and concern over whether the confused and embarrassed young hunter thought he'd been raped suddenly took on a whole new significance. As did the way the pureblood had gone limp on the bed and let Zero beat the crap out of him after he'd come dangerously close to actually pushing the _no means no _line with the ex-human a while later. Kaname had probably feared repeating what had been done to him, even by accident.

It made Zero even more angry with Nasser to realize just how deeply he'd cut his signature into Kaname's life, even without being fully remembered.

"I've made a mess of everything," Kaname murmured in a small voice, without looking up. "I'm sorry."

Zero abruptly realized he'd been letting too much of his anger creep into his aura again. Kaname had obviously sensed it and was curling even harder into himself, convinced Zero was upset with him. _Crap! _Sometimes the ability to unconsciously broadcast your emotions like that _really _sucked.

"No, you haven't. The mess isn't yours, Kaname," Zero murmured quickly, trying to sound reassuring. He forced himself to breathe deeply. It was so hard to see Kaname like this and to not have any idea what to do. He was so murderously angry with Nasser that it was hard to think straight, concentrate or even breathe, but now wasn't the time for that.

Focusing on his anger would be a cop out, because it was _easy_ for him to be angry. It was _easy_ to want revenge. It was _easy_ to start planning out in his head all the best ways to hunt and kill an old and powerful pureblood. It was a _lot_ easier than kneeling here helplessly beside Kaname and feeling utterly unable to make a dent in his pain. A lot easier than trying to find some way to ease the horrible anguish gashed across Kaname's mind and heart when he couldn't even get the pureblood to believe a thing he said. Yet those harder things were what Kaname needed right now.

"I told you, _none _of this was your fault." He felt rather like a broken record. The warmth of the shower had made the air in the bathroom warm and steamy. Zero turned the water off and set the shower head aside.

"I know you don't believe that, but I wish you would. You were a _kid. _You were barely as old as I was when Shizuka attacked us. You _couldn't _stop him, no more than I could stop her. Sometimes horrible, pointless, cruel things just... _happen._" Actually, Zero wasn't sure he'd ever actually had that conviction before this very moment when it came pouring out of him in an effort to soothe Kaname, but he realized it was true. Shit happened. Just because you couldn't stop it or get out of the way didn't necessarily make you culpable.

"Look, I... I think maybe I know a little of what you're feeling. At least, I know what it is to feel like you're so deeply tainted that your life is over," Zero whispered hesitantly. This was not his forte. He was much more comfortable with forgetting and walling away the past. So was Kaname. But now a big part of his lover's past had reared its ugly head and there was no shoving it back in a box. His own feelings and experiences were the only thing he had to draw on for guidance. Kaname felt alone, but he shouldn't. He wasn't the only one of them who hid dark secrets and shameful regrets. Zero knew what it was to feel like the architect of your own doom. To live every day with hurt and failure that you couldn't escape until you would do anything to either die or forget.

"But you weren't to blame, Kaname, trusts me. I _saw_ what you went through." Zero leaned forward, resting his forehead lightly against the side of Kaname's hunched, wet shoulder.

_I'm all too aware of what you saw. _The shamed, unspoken thought was clear in every tense line of the pureblood's anguished body language. Zero felt him draw a forced, shuddering breath.

The hunter grimaced, feeling he'd said the wrong thing again. It hurt to think that he may be causing Kaname to feel even _more_ violated than he already did. Desperate to do somethingthat would make a difference, he wondered if would help if Kaname didn't feel so much like he was the only one whose dirty laundry was on display. It seemed a crazy idea, but Zero was running out of sane ones. So with a hesitant sigh, he pressed his head more firmly against Kaname's shoulder and did something which he just knew he'd probably regret. Something which he would never have dreamed he would do.

He hesitantly opened his mind to Kaname, connecting with him like they had been connected earlier. Haltingly, he shared a piece of something that he had spent almost half his life trying to forget. It hardly seemed the right time to be doing this, and yet it was probably the _only_ time he ever would have. If they had been in bed, what Zero was doing might have been akin to mentally rolling Kaname on top of him and quietly offering himself up so that his lover wouldn't be the only vulnerable one. If they both had seen each other's darkest moments, then it made them kind of even, didn't it? The logic may have seemed odd, but his intent was pure and earnest. _If I let you see the damaged places inside of me, will you be able to believe that I can still love the damaged places inside of you? _

Zero exhaled slowly as he let the old memories wash over him. They were not as clear and sharp as Kaname's had been, although they were just about as painful. The events were all there, but the details in some places had faded to impressions and blurs. Like yellowed photographs, these memories were worn from time and from the frequent, agonized replaying they had done in his head over the years. The agony was intense, but also somewhat muted because it was by now very old and familiar. It was a pain that he'd had plenty of time to learn to live with over the years. This was a path Zero had traveled too many times, despite knowing that he could never change where it led. It was a path he now tried to avoid completely because despite the wear of time it still had the power to wound him if he let it. Only his love for Kaname could have made him choose to re-live that night again...

_Ice twisted in his gut as a strong, warning sensation gripped his spine and raised the hairs on the back of his neck. He glanced around quickly, but his parents were still packing things up, apparently unconcerned. Maybe he was wrong... but he felt it, nonetheless. The presence of a hostile vampire tingled sharply in his hunter senses, making his young body tense. _Ichiru! Ichiru had gone outside alone. He could be in danger, he had to find him!

_The ground was cold under his bare feet as he rushed out into the night, heedless of his mother calling after in him in concern. The icy winter wind bit through the pajamas he was wearing. _

_Then he saw __**her**__. A pale, beautiful figure, sucking in the starlight and giving nothing back. The moonlight played on her silver hair and the shadows of the night caressed her lovingly. There was a deep sorrow on her timeless features, a sorrow which seemed to pierce the night to its very core and leave it shuddering. Her aura was more terrifying than any he'd ever felt. Suddenly, Zero was intensely aware of the fact that he was unarmed and in his pajamas. That was no way to confront a dangerous pureblood vampire. And he could tell that's what she was just by looking at her, just by the way she registered in his senses. He had felt it the last time he saw her too, even though Ichiru hadn't. She had seemed sad then also, but nowhere near this frightening. _

_The vampire woman was behind him before he even realized she had moved. Her strong, slender arms were twined around him like steel snakes. Her hand was almost deceptively gentle as it squeezed his throat. Long fingernails that could so easily turn into razor sharp claws pressed crescent patterns into his tender skin. Zero's heart jumped up and lodged in the same place, pounding under her fingers as she whispered in his ear. Her voice was like the hiss of silk sliding across the smooth blade of a sword as she told him that he was cursed and sinful. He was already damned, she said, and she would give him an even more damned future. _

_Her strong, graceful fingers were warm on his neck. Her sharp nails pressed just hard enough to dig painfully into the rapidly throbbing pulse of his jugular vein. Was that why he didn't try to move or escape? Why he didn't try to do __**anything**__? Because he knew she could take his head off with one little twist? Or was he simply too terrified at being in her presence and feeling the strange, terrible, unfamiliar way her will crushed down upon him. That was a question which would torment him for years to come, one he would never be able to answer. He really didn't know. He had never encountered a pureblood before her. He had never fully understood the danger until this moment. This moment when it was too late. _

_His parents appeared in the doorway, black silhouettes against the warm, welcoming yellow glow spilling out of the house behind them. Bathed in the square of light, they represented everything that meant home and safety_ _to him He felt a childish swell of relief at seeing them. They had their weapons out, they were aware of the threat, they would stop this woman... _

_Then he felt her hot breath on his cold neck, and the soft, terrible brush of fangs against his skin. Pain pierced him even as he heard his mother scream in fear and anguished rage as the vampire sank her teeth into young Zero Kiriyu's slender throat. In that moment his life as he had known it and the future he had always imagined both ended abruptly in a bright, crimson flow of blood. _

_Her jaws were incredibly strong, like a beast's. He felt her long incisors penetrate so deeply that he thought she was going to bite all the way through his neck. As he felt the strange, terrible sensation of blood rushing out of his body and into hers, Zero knew somewhere in his startled, panicked young mind that only two paths now lay before him. Either he would die... or he really would be damned. He fervently hoped for death, because it was the only thing left for which to hope. Yet he was also scared, and... and unforgivably, he wanted to live too. _

_He felt Shizuka drawing his blood in a single deep, rapid draught. He felt her poison enter his system and begin burning through his veins and nerves. Agony blossomed hot and radiant as his very molecular structure was altered irrevocably, his DNA overwritten as she made him a creature like her. Those were the last truly clear memories he had before the nightmare started. As the damning process of transformation began, everything warped and became a bloody blur. Events lost focus and jumbled together. _

_His heart raced and his neck flamed. He felt like he was being turned inside out, like someone had grabbed the lining of his gut and was ripping it upward. He felt like his skin was on fire and yet he was freezing. His bones ached as if they would turn to dust inside him. A strange, throbbing, terrible euphoria spread in tingling waves from the bite on his neck. It seemed to gather in his rapidly beating heart, from there spreading outward in pounding waves through the rest of his body and making his head spin. _

_Shizuka kept him pinned to her, holding him with one arm while she dealt with his parents' attack. The details were blurry in Zero's mind. He didn't exactly recall what all happened in those terrible few minutes after being bitten. It was all a muddled mess of fragments and horror. That was perhaps for the best. What he did remember was terrible enough. _

_He didn't remember how they all ended up inside the house again, or how that place which had once seemed so safe became the killing fields of his nightmares. He did remember seeing his father's neck ripped open. He remembered seeing his mother's heart raw and bloody in Shizuka's hand. He remembered her indulging in their flesh and blood. He remembered her painting it on his trembling lips. _

_Fire was waking inside his chest. The disgusting, horrifying blood splashed all around him... his parents' blood... it was strangely beautiful, strangely compelling. His mind shrieked with horror and condemnation that he could feel that way, recoiling desperately, but there was no escape. _

_Shizuka held his mother's heart to his lips, making him taste it. The raw, slippery texture burned into his tongue, he would never be able to forget it. Zero tried to turn away, but she would not let him. She held his shaking jaw open and spilled his mother's blood down his throat with mock kindness, like she was doing him a favor. She purred softly, as if she were feeding a reluctant infant while he gagged and struggled weakly in her arms. _

_It tasted good. The blood of the dead woman on the floor who had given him life and love for as long as he could remember. It tasted sinfully good. Zero wanted to throw up. His mind was screaming a long, unending wail of horror. Why didn't he die? He should be dead. He should not be able to become something that could like the taste of death. It was so evil... if he did survive, he would never drink blood again, never! He would go mad and die first. It was better than this. _

_Shizuka was at his neck again, her fangs teasing and tearing him, his head spinning as she mauled and drank. _Kill me. Kill me... _he begged silently in his mind. She laughed softly, as if she could hear him, and he quickly stopped begging. Anger filled his glazed, hurting eyes, and it stayed there. Hate was better than fear, and it was all he had left now. He leaned against her body, wavering, clinging to her bloody clothes for support as she stole his world. _

_Shizuka pulled his torn, bloody pajama shirt down, baring one thin, pale shoulder. She claimed his neck thoroughly, biting him over and over until it was certain he would never forget her. He trembled, shamefully, so weak he could no longer stand on his own. _

_Suddenly Ichiru was in the doorway. Zero was intensely relieved to see he was all right, but even more intensely terrified. The only thing worse than seeing his parents killed, would be seeing Ichiru die. He couldn't stand that, he couldn't! He'd go crazy. He shouted to Ichiru to run, or to fight if he was given no choice. But Ichiru did neither. Ichiru... his brother who was like the other half of himself, whom Zero had watched over and tended and loved more than anybody else since before they were even old enough to walk... Ichiru just smiled. _

_Zero's world truly tipped on its side then, and maybe he did go a little crazy. Certainly, everything stopped making sense. He was on the floor. He was in Shizuka's lap. He didn't remember sequence and form, just pain and betrayal and the dark, persistent wish to cease existing. The pureblood woman stroked and fondled his wounds, making him shudder as she admired his raw neck and the defiant hatred in his eyes. She and Ichiru talked, like nothing was happening, like none of this meant anything to the brother Zero loved and would have died to protect. Betrayal was not an adequate term for what Zero felt, and yet... he also felt guilty. This wasn't Ichiru, not really, it couldn't be. The pureblood witch must have done this to him, must have brain washed or bound him or something. Zero should have realized something was wrong, all those times Ichiru slipped away lately... he should have figured it out and protected him. But he hadn't. He had failed Ichiru, and their parents... he had failed everyone. _

Zero drew a deep, shuddering breath as he came up out of the memory. It had taken only a few heartbeats to share. He cut it off before he was left lying in his own blood, too weak to move, staring at his dead parents for hours until they were discovered. He pulled away before he had to remember the looks in the eyes of the other hunters when they realized what had happened and whispered to one another what a shame it was that he was still alive. It was enough. He could feel Kaname's surprise at what had just happened, as well as the pureblood's intense, aching sorrow and concern for him. He looked up and met Kaname's startled, tear-filled eyes. If he'd wanted to shock Kaname out of his self-accusing funk, he had apparently succeeded.

"Z-Zero?" Kaname whispered, somehow managing to push past his own anguish enough to feel terrible for the hunter. Kaname touched Zero's cheek lightly with one hand while the other slid to Zero's neck, his palm closing tenderly over the tattoo which marked the otherwise flawless skin where Shizuka had taken her revenge out on him. Revenge aimed at a world that had wronged her and his parents who had only been following orders, but which had ended up inflicted most harshly upon a child who had done no one any wrong.

Kaname _knew _what had happened to Zero, but he now discovered that knowing a situation as a fact, and knowing what the person in question had actually gone through were two very different things. Somehow, he felt he understood Zero much more deeply. He understood why he'd fought his change for so many years and resisted drinking blood so fiercely, even when it literally almost drove him mad. Kaname had never completely been able to comprehend why Zero had seemed so resistant and tormented about drinking the blood he tried to give him in the beginning. It used to frustrate him intensely, but he understood now. Just like he understood that it was a lot more than just prejudice that had made Zero reject all things vampire. Why it had been so hard for Zero to accept him or to even entertain the idea that he could possibly love a pureblood vampire. It was amazing, really, that they'd ever been able to get past the wounds Shizuka had carved upon his heart and mind.

Kaname's already torn heart bled anew, but for Zero this time. In a strange way, it was good to hurt for someone else, even if it was simply because all his thoughts were focused on Zero and so he actually forgot his own troubles for those few moments. He was more than a little shocked at what had just happened. It wasn't the kind of thing he expected Zero to just up and share intentionally so he was really afraid it had been an accident. They had never talked about that night before. That was a painful part of Zero's past which the hunter had no wish to share with anyone and Kaname had always respected that.

"Zero, I'm so sorry," Kaname murmured. His eyes said that he was sorry for everything. Sorry for what Shizuka had done to the young hunter and his family, sorry for what Zero had suffered in being forced to live the rest of his life as something he had never wanted to be, and sorry and that he had just intruded on those intensely personal memories.

"Did... did you mean...?" The pureblood was more than a little afraid that their prolonged mental closeness earlier had had a lingering effect. If Zero simply hadn't been guarding enough to keep the bleed-through from happening, then that had been a terrible, unintended invasion of his lover's privacy. However, as Zero looked back at Kaname with an aching but purposeful gaze, the pureblood quickly realized that everything he'd just seen had been _entirely _intentional. That was even more surprising. He felt confused and off balance, but it was better than what he'd been feeling a minute ago.

"Yeah," Zero murmured, his voice a little hoarse. He quickly cleared his throat to loosen the tenseness there. He'd had a long time to deal with what had happened that night. It was difficult, but he could look at it and move on now. He hoped he'd not done the wrong thing, exposing Kaname to more pain and trauma at a moment like this when he should be trying to make him feel _better _not _worse. _But Zero _was _trying to make him feel better, or at least, less alone.

"I meant to," he confirmed quietly. His hand slid up and he covered Kaname's fingers where they still lay against his neck. It was kind of comforting, having Kaname's hand there as the ghostly, phantom ache of Shizuka's tearing fangs faded slowly. He gave a faint, sad smile. Everything Kaname was going through and the pureblood still managed to comfort _him. _Zero entwined their fingers.

"I saw your past, now you've seen mine," he whispered. "I know they say you're supposed to keep a little mystery in a relationship," he gave Kaname a soft smile. "But I guess we'll have to settle for not knowing each other's favorite ice cream flavors or something..."

"Pistachio."

Zero blinked and grinned a little wider. "Aw, dang it! Now we have to come up with something else."

Kaname actually smiled back for a moment at the extremely improbable turn the conversation had taken. His raw insides felt warmed by a glow of intense affection. This was so beautifully, typically Zero. He was so earnest and sincere, so single-minded when he wanted to help. He did the most unexpected and amazingly unselfish things at the oddest of times. He could make Kaname smile when there was absolutely nothing to smile about. Kaname loved him intensely for those and so many other reasons.

"You... you shared that just so I wouldn't feel so..." Kaname gestured, not sure what word to use because there were too many that applied and yet none seemed to exactly fit. His pained, red-rimmed eyes were strangely soft and blank with the realization of how far his lover would go for him. _Why? Why would he still do something like that now, after finding out the truth? _It was beautiful and incomprehensible.

Zero nodded. "Partly, yeah," he whispered. "And partly because I believe that... that I'm safe, sharing it with you. That you won't judge me, for what happened," he admitted. His eyes were still set and determined, but there was a distinct, unmistakable flicker of vulnerability there as well. He was literally laying his heart open in an effort to reach Kaname.

Kaname blinked in confusion. "_Judge _you? Zero, whatever for? What happened was horrible and unforgivable, but it wasn't-" the pureblood suddenly caught himself, sensing that he was being gently maneuvered towards a specific point for a reason. Zero knew him too well. He realized that was one of the things he loved about the hunter, though. Zero understood him like almost no one else could. They had both been through hell in different ways. They were survivors who could look at one another's scars without flinching or running away. He'd forgotten that under the weight of his anguish just now, but Zero was helping him remember.

"Wasn't my fault?" Zero quietly finished for him, raising his eyebrows.

Kaname was too smart not to see where this was heading and he dropped his gaze. His hand was still twined with Zero's where it rested against the ex-human's neck and he felt Zero swallow a little raggedly under his palm.

"Or... do you think it was?" Zero's question was so quiet and hesitant that Kaname immediately looked up again, aghast that he might have given the wrong impression.

"No," he said quickly. His eyes were intense with sincerity and concern and they glistened with heartfelt emotion. "It _wasn't, _Zero, not at _all_. But I know what you're-"

Zero shook his head and pressed his free hand against Kaname's lips. "No, you don't know. You think you have everything all figured out, but you're wrong. It's easy to see things when they're happening to someone else. It's not so easy to see when it's happening to you. You think it's ridiculous for me to feel guilty about what happened with Shizuka, don't you?"

Zero's gaze bored into the pureblood. He knew it was true, he could see it in the pureblood's eyes. "Well trust me, it doesn't _feel _ridiculous to me."

Kaname was suddenly very afraid that he had given a completely wrong impression. "Zero, I didn't mean that..."

Zero didn't let him finish. "Shh, I know," he hushed him gently. "Just let me finish, this isn't easy for me to say. See, I've never shared _exactly_ what happened that night with anyone," he whispered, and Kaname could see in Zero's eyes how difficult this was for him.

"I never told anyone that Shizuka turned me _before _she killed my parents. They've always assumed that we all fought her together and lost, that my parents were killed and I just wasn't that lucky. I didn't lie about it, but I... I didn't correct their assumptions either. I couldn't bear to tell them... to tell Master Touga, that that wasn't how it happened. I wasn't an afterthought, I was the reason. I was what Shizuka came for and I literally walked right into her hands. So often, I've wondered how things might have been different if I'd stayed inside the house, if I'd had the sense to grab a weapon first or if I'd fought her like I should have when she grabbed me. She might have killed me, but since I know now that Ichiru had convinced her to leave me alive... maybe I could have used that, if I'd tried. Even if she _had _killed me, maybe my parents would have had more of a chance if she hadn't been using me as a hostage. I never fought her, Kaname. Not... not _once_. I was too _scared._ I was a hunter in training, and I didn't do a _thing _to stop what happened. You can't know how much I have hated myself for that," he admitted. He might be able to tell Kaname these things, but he still didn't think he could admit that failing to Yagari without it changing how his Sensei looked at him. His violet gaze fell to the edge of the tub. _Well, crap. He'd wanted to show Kaname he wasn't alone, he hadn't meant to get mired in all this old pain and hurt himself, or drag Kaname through it either. Brilliant, Kiriyu, you're just a freaking genius. _

Kaname's eyes were wide. "Zero, it wouldn't have made a difference. You were a human child and she was a pureblood vampire. You may have been part of her plan, but I guarantee that whether she killed you or turned you, your parents would have died just the same. She went there for blood and she was going to have it. There wasn't anything you could have done to stop her even if you'd been armed and fought like a wild cat. Your parents obviously tried. They were full grown, completely trained and fighting two against one and they still couldn't stop her. You did nothing wrong."

Zero looked back up and smiled faintly. He had to admit that it felt comforting to hear Kaname say those things. It was also kind of good to see a bit of protective fire back in his eyes. Maybe this hadn't been _such _a horrible idea. If only Kaname could turn that same compassion and understanding on his own past.

"Maybe," he said slowly. "I know a lot more now than I did then. When I look back on the situation as an adult, I-I can start to believe that perhaps you're right." He took a steadying breath. Actually, he had only really started believing it just this minute. It would have been better to say he _almost _believed it, but that would not have helped him make his case to Kaname very well.

"I guess that was kind of my point, about being able to see things easier from the outside than the inside. See?" Zero leaned in and kissed Kaname ever so lightly on the lips. "I knew you wouldn't judge me. That you of all people, would understand. That means a lot to me, Kaname. Can... can you trust me that much?" He drew back and lifted Kaname's hand from his neck, kissing the knuckles softly. "Can you try to believe me when I tell you that what happened with you and Nasser was not your fault? That he was just too strong for you, and you were only a child, like I was?"

Kaname's gaze dropped, pain and regret flickering across his face. He understood what Zero was trying to do and he loved him for it, but you couldn't really compare the two situations. "I... I'll try, Zero," he whispered hesitantly.

Zero was not convinced, he knew Kaname was just saying what his lover wanted to hear. "You know, Kaname, I tried to killyou the first time I saw you, remember?" he asked, sounding equal parts wry and chagrined at the memory.

Kaname glanced up again, not sure where that had come from or where it was going. He nodded slowly. Yes, he remembered the little boy with the burning eyes going for him with the steak knife in Cross's dining room. An absolutely ridiculous attempt, it was actually kind of amusing in a sad way, now that he knew Zero better.

"Do you want to know the real reason why I did that? I wasn't _so _stupid that I thought I could take on even a young pureblood with nothing but a dinner knife and live to tell about it... but that was kind of the point. I _wanted_ you to kill me. I didn't know you, all I knew was that you felt like _her _and I couldn't stand to be reminded, so I tried to get you to do what she left unfinished and what I was too much of a coward to do myself. I spilled your blood unprovoked, you could easily have killed me for that under either hunter or vampire law. But you weren't even _angry_... why?" Zero looked at Kaname earnestly, obviously wanting an answer.

"I knew you only lashed out because you were hurting," the pureblood whispered. "I wasn't angry with you, I was... sad. I knew how much you had lost." He had also already suspected that some of their losses were connected. In a roundabout way, both his and Zero's parents had died as a result of the same people's machinations.

"You have such a gentle heart, Kaname," Zero murmured. "So how about you try to show your younger self even a tenth of the compassion you showed that angry, stupid little ex-human back then?"

Kaname gave him a soft, sad smile. What Zero asked was impossible, but he tried not to show that. All the talking in the world wasn't going to change how he felt, what he knew in his bones was the truth. Zero hadn't had a choice in what happened to him. Kaname had. He'd chosen to fall into Nasser's bed and then he'd been too weak and pathetic to deal with the consequences of his own actions afterwards.

"_You, _have a gentle heart, Zero," he told him. "And I'm... I'm _not_ sorry you know my secrets, I do trust that they are safe with you. Thank you. I'm sorry I'm being so..." he shook his head, lips compressing in frustration. His eyes stung, but he refused to keep breaking down like a crybaby. He was hardly about to argue with Zero's lovely delusions. After the staggering trust the ex-human had just shown him it would be cruel, not to mention pointless.

He needed to try to pull himself together and get past this. Why should he want Zero to believe the ugly truth when the hunter was content to believe a much sweeter lie? Was it because he was so afraid he couldn't live up to what Zero thought he was? Yet when you came right down to it, wasn't that the pureblood did best? Pretend to be what people expected him to be? Wear the right face at the right time with the right people?

He needed Zero too much. If it kept the hunter with him, Kaname could live a million lies no matter how badly it hurt to do so or how hard it would be constantly fearing what would happen someday when that illusion finally fell apart too. A little while longer was better than losing everything now, right? It was an unforgivable path to take with someone he claimed to love, but was it really possible to hate himself any more by this point?

"I'd better take a proper shower," Kaname said quietly, wearily leveraging himself up to his feet in the slick tub. His skin was starting to crawl again, as if it were filthy, even though he'd recently been washed. Washing wasn't nearly enough. _Forget water, he needed to scratch his skin right off and let it re-grow again, maybe a couple times... _but he couldn't, not yet. Not in front of Zero. It seemed to disturb Zero too much, even though it was impossible for Kaname to do himself lasting harm that way.

"You'll need to too," he added, glancing at Zero's blood stained clothing. "I'm sorry about that. It was... foolish of me, to go to pieces like I did." Kaname's fingers twitched as he felt imaginary fingertips slide up his thigh. He took a deep breath and stilled his hands. He didn't know why this was happening ever since he'd regained his memories, but the ghost sensations were driving him crazy. Pain had made it stop for a while earlier. Perhaps it would again. Perhaps it could also make him forget the way he was intending to betray someone who had literally just laid open his soul for him. Perhaps if it hurt badly enough, he could at least feel that he was in some small way paying for his sins. _Oh God, Zero... I wish I deserved you. I was I was the person you think I am. _

Zero rose to his feet as well. He had seen the switch flip inside Kaname and he recognized the symptoms. He knew Kaname was pulling back and hiding in an effort to recover control. The pureblood had been through a lot today. He'd had to face things that threw his orderly world out of tilt and made him incredibly vulnerable. Those were not sensations which Kaname handled well. It was inevitable that eventually his shields would come back up and he would start to trying to make everything fit back where he felt it belonged.

Zero supposed he should have taken it as a good sign that Kaname was coming back to himself enough to start being a control freak again. He had no problem pulling back and letting Kaname do his thing if it helped the wounded pureblood regain a little balance and dignity. But... something wasn't right. Something about Kaname felt really off. Zero felt troubled and uneasy. He rubbed the base of his neck absently. He'd become so used to feeling Kaname through their bond that he wasn't always conscious of it anymore.

Kaname reached for the shower curtain and started to pull it closed. Ironically, as much as he wanted and needed to be with Zero... right now, he wanted Zero to go away. He needed to be alone. The terrible ache in his chest was making it hard to breathe. He wasn't ready to act convincingly yet, he hurt too much and it all felt too hard. He needed Zero to leave before he lost his ability to hold onto his resolve and not become a disgusting, blubbering mess once more.

Zero hesitated. If Kaname needed some time to himself and a little privacy then he certainly wanted to give him that, but something deep inside him was screaming at him to stay right where he was. He caught Kaname's gaze just before the pureblood disappeared behind the curtain. What Zero saw sent fear shooting through him. He started as if a jolt had actually jumped from the pureblood to himself like static electricity.

Kaname was acting like he was okay, but one look at his eyes told the true story and made it painfully obvious that he wasn't. He was just doing what he always did, trying to hide the pain from Zero so it wouldn't hurt him too. His eyes were raw, dark, and frightening. They were twin maelstroms that pulled you into his despair and threatened to dash you on the rocks that were cutting him to pieces. Kaname was an amazingly good actor, but an _act_ was all it was and in that moment Zero caught a glitter of the dangerous instability that Kaname was trying so hard not to let him see.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Zero could hear a child sobbing. The world grew dim. He could feel the sound tearing through him slowly like icy vines, penetrating his consciousness and making him burn with the desire to hurt himself. Zero's fingers which had been massaging his bite area suddenly tensed. He almost dragged his nails down his throat in a way he'd done too many times before in years past. He didn't understand what he was feeling for a moment and the urge as it translated to him was eerily familiar. Yuki had only caught him at it once, but there had been a number of times he'd scratched himself until he couldn't feel the memory of Shizuka's fangs anymore. He'd not done it in years, not since Kaname's strong, sensual, delicious bite had replaced hers in his memories.

Almost as soon as the urge came, Zero realized it for what it was and halted himself. These weren't his feelings, they were just too close for comfort and he'd too recently stirred that old kettle again. These were Kaname's feelings flooding him. This was Kaname's pain which was lurking beneath the surface, kept hidden only because the pureblood was refusing to give in while Zero was standing beside him.

The heart-rending recollection of Kaname curled on the floor of the cell in Ichiou's basement slammed into Zero. Kaname was still walking the same perilous line he had been walking that night, he was simply better at hiding it now. Time had taught him how to more efficiently show the world what it wanted to see while inside he quietly unraveled. If the pureblood was left alone, Zero suddenly felt sure that his tenuous mask of calm would fall, shattering Kaname along with it. Zero didn't know where all this sudden insight was coming from. Maybe there were some lingering effects still from their repeated mental contact. At the moment, pondering that question wasn't anywhere on his list of priorities.

Zero grabbed the shower curtain and stubbornly yanked it back to the wall. Zero understood that Kaname had had no one to turn to in the past, that it was instinct for the pureblood to hide rather than risk exposing the raw nerve endings inside him any further. But this was sure as freaking hell _not _the past. Kaname wasn't alone. There was somebody here who loved him enough to fight for him, even if it meant fighting _with _him.

"Damn it, Kaname, I love you, but you are the most frustrating person I've ever known. What do you think you are doing?"

Kaname started when Zero yanked the curtain back, the unexpected move almost frightening him, much to his dismay. The old feeling of being trapped and cornered reared hard inside of him. "W-what do you mean?" He was trying to be angry instead of scared, and failing miserably. He wasn't scared ofZero, but he was afraid of the damning understanding in the hunter's clear eyes. He felt like Zero was looking right into him, and Kaname knew what a dark place that was. "I-"

"Don't lie to me. You don't have to. Damn it, you don't have to!" Zero's eyes were gentle and fierce at the same time. They were also filled with anguish. "Don't you get that, Kaname? You say you trust me, but you run from me like I'm one of those people who hurt you. Am I? Because if I am I am _so _sorry," Zero's eyes filled with tears again.

"But I'm not going to let you do this. I'm not going to sit here and watch as you fall apart inside because you have this idea in your stubborn mixed up head that you're this bad person who has to hide from me. Don't try to tell me that's not what's happening right now, because I know better. How can you be so lovely and understanding to me and so thick headed and unforgiving of yourself? How about you just _try _giving yourself a break for half a minute and see if it would actually kill you?" Zero doubted that verbally shaking Kaname by the collar was a great tactic to take right now, but he didn't know what else to do and he was so upset. He wasn't going to let his lover crawl back into his shell and let the pain eat him away. Maybe it would be good if he made Kaname angry, maybe it would be better than the other things he was obviously feeling.

Kaname's heart pounded and he clenched his fists at his sides. Zero's words struck too deep and stirred up the confused, spinning mass of tangled pain churning inside him. _No, Zero, please, you really need to leave, don't push me right now, I-I can't..._

"Zero, I need you to leave," Kaname said, as quietly as he could manage. He loved Zero more than life but the ex-human always had known exactly how to push his buttons; that hadn't changed just because they were together now and fought less frequently. Zero could still get under his skin quicker than anyone living and at the moment that was a very dangerous ability. Kaname's chest felt unbearably tight, like a centrifuge was winding up inside him and it made terror flare through his mind. This was how he'd felt right before he accidentally half ripped Takuma open. He could _not _do something like that to Zero. Dear God, he would die first.

"Well tough, I'm not going anywhere. You're _not _alone now, Kaname. Live with it."

Kaname stumbled back a step and pressed his back against the wall of the shower, his hands going to his head, his breathing strained. He was panicking, which was making his already shaky control worse. "Zero, I mean it, leave! Get out!" he fairly growled.

Zero, ever the one to push forward when retreating would have been the safer option, stepped into the bath tub with Kaname instead. Maybe he was being foolish but he seriously doubted that Kaname knew what was best for himself at the moment. He took hold of Kaname's shoulders gently but firmly, holding him, but not exactly pinning him to the wall. He could feel the pureblood trembling and the raw uncertainty in Kaname's eyes as they darted fearfully up to meet his made his stomach do a little flip. _Oookay, here's hoping I don't regret this. _

"No," he repeated, his tone both obstinate and caring. "Stop it, Kaname. You're always so afraid you'll hurt me. But I'm not afraid, I trust you, and I'm not leaving you when I can't be sure you're not going to start hurting yourself the moment I'm gone."

Kaname gulped air silently, holding Zero's calm, earnest gaze desperately as he struggled with himself. There was no way he could violate that trust. He had to keep it together. He simply had to. He pressed his back hard against the cool, slick tiles and told himself he could do this until he started to believe it. Somehow, Zero's calm seemed to call forth an answering effect inside him and after a minute or two Kaname felt the raw edge of panic start to dull, loosening the knots in his chest and making control a little easier.

The pureblood felt weak and dizzy, but there was a strange tingle of victory in his exhaustion. The past didn't _have _to repeat itself. The memories may feel fresh and inescapable, he may be reeling from having this less mature, frightened, unstable version of himself suddenly living in his head, but he was _not _the boy he had been. He had grown a lot in the intervening years and he needed to remember that. He had more strength and more control now, as had just been proved. Zero saw that in him, even if he'd not been able to see it himself. Maybe there was a lot Zero could see that he was missing.

Zero felt himself relax a little as Kaname started to look a little less like he might be about to destructively remodel this room like he had the other.

"There, see? You're going to be okay..." he promised, his own breath shaking just a little and giving away that he hadn't been completely unaware of the danger he had placed himself in.

"Zero..." Kaname breathed, his breath still rapid and uneven. "You're an idiot. You know what I could have done to you..."

Zero shrugged it off. "Yeah, yeah, but you didn't. Because you are a good person, and you're a lot stronger than you think_. _That son of a bitch bastard tried to screw you up, but he _failed, _Kaname."

"Screwed is a good choice of words," Kaname said darkly, the pain finally breaking free behind his eyes again. He was through acting, Zero made it too hard. The hunter was like a bulldog, when he latched on to something, he wouldn't let it go.

"Zero... you're right. I won't lie to you." Kaname was starting to shake. "So I'll tell you the truth. And the truth is that there's a _huge _difference between what happened to you and what happened to me. You didn't have a choice, I did. You were a human, Nasser and I were both purebloods. Don't you understand? He didn't rape me, I-I let him do it." Kaname closed his eyes and sagged against the wall. "I _asked _him to do it." _There. He'd said it. _If Zero had been at all in doubt about it, or trying to pretend he didn't know, that was over. Kaname's cheeks felt painfully hot, the splotchy, mottled color of his shame reddening them unevenly.

"There's no pretty way to dress it up. I don't know what else you think I can say. I don't know what you want from me..." Kaname sank down the wall, his shoulders shaking as the tears escaped down his face. Everyone wanted something from him, and even though he would give Zero anything, he just didn't know what it was.

Zero crouched down, his eyes deeply pained. "What do I want?" he echoed softly. "I want you to _think, _Kaname_. _I want you to look at everything you've remembered with that amazingly crafty pureblood mind of yours instead of through the eyes of a traumatized child. You say you were willing, I say bullshit. Did you _really _want what happened? Or were you being used? Nasser was playing you, he was using your feelings of guilt and shame against you, even _**I**_ can see that, for pity's sake!"

Kaname opened his eyes slowly. For Zero, he tried to consider the possibility. It was hard though, he felt like he was making excuses if he tried to go down that road, looking for vindication in an act that had none.

Zero could see the pureblood's doubts on his face. It seemed so clear to him, but he could tell it was truly difficult for Kaname to see it that way. The pureblood was too connected to the situation and he literally couldn't see the forest for the trees. Zero had seen through Kaname's eyes what had happened to him, but unlike the pureblood, he was not blinded by the emotions and feelings of the moment and had been able to look at the events though the eyes of a grown hunter and vampire rather than through the eyes of a confused, hurting child, to which Kaname's viewpoint was still trapped.

"Kaname," he tried again, more gently now. "You know how powerful pureblood pheromones are. And if you don't, then take my word for it. I've had a lot of experience," he gave a slightly wry, encouraging smile. "When I get hopped up on enough of your pheromones, I'll do _anything. _You know that, Kaname. It's what happened the other day in the restroom at the office."

Zero saw guilt flash in Kaname's eyes again and he quickly touched the pureblood's lips with his fingers to halt another apology. "No, shh, I told you that was all right. _I love you,_ Kaname. It's okay if that happens with us because I know I can trust you, and you have never, _ever _given me reason not to." He kissed the pureblood's forehead softly. "But in the hands of someone less honorable than you... surely you realize how they can be used? Nasser had the conference room _flooded _with pheromones earlier. I was using hunter protection intended for just such a circumstance and I _still _felt them. I'm certain he used them on you during all your previous encounters as well. Bloodsucking, bottom feeding leaches like him don't change their ways."

Zero was actually surprised to consider that perhaps Kaname _hadn't_ realized what was happening in the conference room. He was so used to the pureblood being miles ahead of him in terms of vampire manipulation that he had never thought he might miss such a thing. But now he realized that if Nasser had done this to Kaname since he was young and impressionable, Kaname might mistake the elder pureblood's constant, sensual barrage as simply part of the other pureblood's aura, or part of Kaname's own reaction to him because of their history. The confusion would not have been helped by the holes Kaname had had in his memory.

Zero once again felt incredibly guilty for the way he had reacted to the perceived suggestion of intimacy between the two purebloods earlier. He swallowed, the fingers caressing Kaname's hair turning even more gentle. _He wanted to go back in time and pull that trigger. He wanted to rewind the clock a little and blow Nasser's brains clear across the room. _Realistically, Zero knew it wouldn't have been that easy, but the burning desire for retribution throbbed painfully in his gut anyway. He was not a cruel person by nature, but Zero knew in his heart of hearts that after what he had seen, he would take intense pleasure in slowly and painfully taking Nasser apart.

Kaname started to protest, then stopped, obviously surprised as he mulled over this new bit of information. Had Nasser's pheromones really been active in the conference room? They must have, Zero wouldn't make something like that up. But Kaname hadn't noticed at all. That was strange, usually he could tell when another pureblood was putting them off. It was like a distinct scent, and he knew to guard himself accordingly. With Nasser, however, he'd never caught a whiff. The only other person that happened with, was Zero. Kaname wasn't cognizant of his pheromones either, he simply felt the effects. Kaname had always assumed it was because Zero was an ex-human and his were fainter, but what if that wasn't the case? What if it was just because he was _accustomed _to Zero's?

Despite himself, Kaname's sharp mind _did _latch onto the quickly spiraling trail of logical possibilities that spun off of those facts. Whether or not it eased his guilt and culpability, the disturbing and dangerous fact remained that he was apparently completely unable to detect Nasser's pheromones. There had to be a reason for that. Could it be because of what had happened when he was younger? Could it be that he had become tuned to Nasser's bio signature, so it did not register in his senses as a foreign, or intrusive presence? Was _that _part of why Nasser could seem to slip inside his defenses so easy? The scent of a bakery was intensely noticeable when you first stepped inside, but if you were there for a while it became all but invisible to your senses, was this something like that?

Much as he was hesitant to let himself consider it, the theory made more sense than the completely repulsive notion that he was actually attracted to Nasser. It _could_ possibly explain how he could want Nasser and hate him at the same time. _Maybe._

For the first time, Kaname felt doubt about his previous convictions. He bit his lower lip, sniffing softly and wiping his eyes. "I-I don't know..."

Zero took the confused doubt in Kaname's eyes as a good sign. It seemed like maybe he was finally getting through.

"You're an ex-human, Zero," Kaname whispered as gently as he could, trying to make sure that the word carried no hint of slight with it. "Biologically, we're different. I'm a pureblood, I shouldn't be effected the same way."

Zero got a stubborn look in his eyes. Now Kaname was just being bullheaded. "For crying out loud, you may be a pureblood, that doesn't make you _superman_. Maybe if all of that had happened _now _then yes, it would make a difference. But we're talking about years ago. You can't tell me that your strength and control back then was anywhere near what it is now, can you? You were a kid up against a full grown pureblood thousands of years your senior. I don't know how or what he did, but I'd stake my life that he got inside your defenses somehow because of the way he hurt you the first times, and then he continued to use that hold he'd gained to confuse and manipulate you afterwards. That's probably what he was _still _using on you now. I could feel him flexing his power like crazy in that conference room, Kaname, I just couldn't tell what he was doing. Try to think like a conniving pureblood bastard for a moment and tell me that doesn't make a sick kind of sense?" he insisted.

Kaname smiled faintly, managing to be slightly amused that Zero was not including him in the _"conniving pureblood bastard"_ class at the moment. "It... _could _make sense, but I... I just don't know," he shook his head, running a hand through his hair. He was so confused and mixed up inside, he didn't know what to think, but... he _wanted _to believe. Zero had done the right thing in giving him a trail to chase, a strategy to analyze.

"But you'll think about it?" Zero pressed gently.

Kaname nodded slowly. "I'll think about it," he agreed in a whisper and this time, he meant it.

Zero was relieved to see that the dangerous edge he'd seen in Kaname's eyes before seemed to have faded back into a dull, weary pain. He tipped the pureblood's head forward gently and kissed his forehead. You couldn't change how you felt about something all at once, but Kaname seemed to have at last heard him at least enough to be confused and that was probably the best that could be hoped for at the moment. "Okay," he murmured. "That's good enough for me."

He started to straighten up, but Kaname's hand reached up and caught the cuff of his sleeve, holding on almost hesitantly.

"Do... do you still mean what you said?" Kaname whispered softly, the raw, yearning need in his eyes as he looked up at the hunter both heartbreaking and precious at the same time. "Can you really still... still love me? Like before? Is that really possible, Zero?"

Zero froze and sank back down again, clasping Kaname's hands in his and looking deeply into his eyes. "Of course I can, and I mean it to the bottom of my heart, Kaname," he promised.

Kaname swallowed, obviously wanting to believe him very badly. "If... if I take a shower now... you're still going to be there when I come out?" He didn't know why he asked, it was such a stupid question and he sounded like such a dumb, frightened little kid. Of _course_ Zero was still going to be there, this was his home, where else would he go? But it wasn't necessarily Zero's physical location he was talking about. He was really asking if Zero would still be _here _in this mental and emotional place where he miraculously loved Kaname and accepted him, broken pieces and all. Deep down, Kaname was terrified that one day he was going to turn around and things would have changed and Zero would no longer look at him this way.

Zero thought his already broken heart might break a little further at the soft, plaintive not in Kaname's question. It almost made no sense. What did Kaname expect him to do, run off and book a plane to destinations unknown while he was in the shower? But he could see that whatever Kaname really meant, the fear in his eyes was very real and no laughing matter. In Kaname's gentle, sad eyes, he could see a hint of that little boy from the past who needed someone to love him, someone from whom he didn't have to fear abandonment or betrayal.

Zero's eyes stung with tears and he did what he had wanted so badly to do for that child in the past. He couldn't go back in time and hold Kaname, but he could hold him now. He hugged the pureblood tenderly for a moment and then rocked back again so he could look him seriously in the eyes.

"Kaname, I'm going to be here when you get out," he promised quietly. "And I'm going to be here tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that... I'm not going to leave you. I told you that. There isn't anything you can do that would make me, not now, not in the past, not in the future. Do you want me to swear it as a blood oath, Kaname?" The question was completely sincere. "Would it help if I swore to you that my love for you is unchanged and that I'll never leave you as long as I live? Is that what you need to truly believe me? Because I will..." Zero whispered and he was completely serious. His fingers slid to his shirt, undoing the top button. He'd seen Kaname pledge an unbreakable blood oath before, many years ago when Kaname had sold himself to save Zero and Yuki. Zero knew how it was done, and he wasn't afraid to bind himself to this promise forever, because he already understood in his heart that oath or no, the outcome would be the same.

Zero had discovered that truth even back when he still thought Kaname _was _a monster who intended to bind and use him. He'd not been able to leave the pureblood then, and he sure as hell couldn't imagine ever leaving him now, after everything they'd become to one another. Their path to finding what they now shared had been long, hard and painful. It could have killed them. Several times, it almost had. But they had survived, and along the way, the difficult journey had trimmed off or burned away most of the transient doubts and hesitations that were normal in long term relationships.

For better or worse, Zero knew he would never connect with another living being the way he could connect with Kaname. He didn't have to wonder anymore if he could imagine spending the rest of his life with this man... he already knew he couldn't imagine spending it without him. Kaname meant too much to him, to leave him would be to leave his own soul behind. Zero undid the second button, his eyes blurring again with earnest, loving tears. "It's just words that express what's already true," he whispered.

Kaname was completely stunned. He would never have expected Zero to offer him that. Zero treasured his freedom very highly. He had always been terrified of being bound to something that would take away any part of his choice or control over his life, _especially _if it was done in a vampiric manner. But here he was, quite seriously ready to swear away the rest of his life to Kaname in order to be believed. That, in itself, spoke volumes about the utter strength of his conviction. Kaname knew Zero well enough to know that if he felt that deeply about something, it was not likely to change.

He reached out and caught Zero's hand as it slid to the third button, stilling it and pressing gently against the hunter's chest with trembling fingers. He shook his head slowly. "No," he said softly. "You don't need to do that. I believe you," he whispered, and the awed truth of that showed in his eyes.

There weren't words to describe the relief of feeling that there was one person in this whole wide world for whom he didn't have to act, one person who could look at the dirty, hurting, soiled wreck of his heart and still say honestly that he loved him. Soft, silent tears flowed down Kaname's cheeks, but they weren't sad tears anymore. He'd already known that Zero was a person like that, but somehow in all the pain he'd forgotten, or been too afraid to believe that it could extend to cover even something like this.

Zero still loved him. That was unbelievably amazing and wonderful, and yet what the hunter had just made clear to him went even beyond that. Kaname almost didn't know how to react. He had never loved someone and _not _been afraid that he would eventually push them away. He had never had anyone in his life whom he could expect to always be beside him. The sheer enormity of the sensation was staggering.

Zero was surprised when a hesitant, awed, brilliant smile lit Kaname's face through his tears. The pureblood leaned forward and gave him a chaste, almost shy kiss before leaning back against the wall and rubbing at his red eyes. Zero smiled back.

"Why don't you go on and finish your shower, I'll wait right out here for you, okay?" Zero patted the closed lid of the toilet, indicating that he would stay in the bathroom in case Kaname needed him.

Kaname nodded, accepting the hand Zero offered to help him to his feet. "Okay," he said quietly. He pulled the shower curtain closed and turned the water back on. He hesitated over the catch of his trousers before finally undoing it and letting the sodden garment fall to his ankles. He stepped out and shivered as the water ran down his naked body. He felt incredibly vulnerable, and would have felt even more vulnerable if Zero had been able to see him, yet at the same time it somehow made him feel very safe knowing that the hunter was just on the other side of the shower curtain. Totally pathetic of course, but there was hardly anything left of his pride to worry about at this point, so what the hell.

There was a soft thump from somewhere outside and Kaname almost jumped, his whole body tensing. He poked his head quickly out around the edge of the shower curtain, his heart pounding unreasonably.

Zero was sitting on the closed toilet and leaning to the side to pick up the soap dish that he'd accidentally knocked off the edge of the sink. He looked up and saw Kaname's dark, dripping head peering out at him. He gestured towards the soap to indicate what had happened and gave the pureblood a smile. "Still here, Kaname," he murmured.

Kaname smiled back hesitantly, feeling himself relax despite also feeling pretty foolish. Quietly, he ducked back into the shower, knowing that Zero would wait for him, no matter how long it took.


	21. Rest My Head Under Your Light

_A/N: Chapter title comes from the song "Already Home" by Thousand Foot Krutch. Sweet song that fits the chapter pretty well I think. :) _

**Chapter Twenty-One: "Rest My Head Under Your Light"**

Kaname was in the shower for quite a while. Finally Zero heard the water shut off and the soft sound of terrycloth shifting against itself as his lover pulled a towel from the rack and dried off behind the curtain. A few moments later the pureblood emerged from the tub, hair tousled and the towel wrapped around his waist.

Garnet eyes quickly sought Zero out, then slid away as Kaname padded silently across the tiled floor. "All yours," the pureblood murmured, nodding back towards the shower as he opened the door and slid out into Zero's bedroom.

Zero hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to go ahead and take a quick shower to get the blood off before rejoining Kaname. He didn't want to leave the pureblood alone too long, but although Kaname had seemed unusually subdued just now, he had also seemed a lot calmer then he had been before. So Zero quickly shed his bloody clothes and gathered Kaname's ruined ones out of the tub. Rolling them together he wrapped them in a towel and buried them in the hamper before slipping into the tub.

He showered quickly, trying to keep an ear on what was happening in the other room despite the dull roar of the falling water. It wasn't easy, the sound of running water was especially good at interfering with even his keen hearing, but he could tell Kaname was moving around in his bedroom. The sound of a drawer opening told him that his lover was probably raiding his closet for clothes, rather than returning to his own wrecked room, for which Zero was glad. He didn't want Kaname to go back to his room and the memories that it might stir up again alone.

Zero rubbed shampoo quickly through his short silver hair, turning his face up into the spray as he washed it out again. It was stupid, but every little sound kept making him glance over his shoulder. Not because he was nervous, but because usually, if he was in the shower and heard Kaname moving around in the other room, it was a safe bet that the Pureblood was going to end up joining him. He'd appear in the shower behind Zero when the hunter least expected it, twining his arms around Zero's wet, naked body, whispering in his ear and laughing in amusement when the hunter predictably jumped half out of his skin. It was annoying... but very enjoyable.

Zero frowned softly and forced himself to stop glancing around. He did not expect Kaname to show up this time, naturally. _Do you think he's ever going to want to do that again, after what he's been through? Do you think he's going to be able to enjoy your touch without being reminded of that hell? _The small, unwelcome thought shivered through Zero, spawning a lonely ache in his chest. His frown deepened. This was hardly the time to be worrying about things like that. Kaname was hurting; whatever he needed to do or _not _do to help him heal was absolutely fine.

A few minutes later, Zero emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a towel and found Kaname sitting on his bed. The pureblood was holding a mug of milky tea between his hands, one leg curled under him as he sat on the edge of the bed. His dark hair was damp. He was wearing a loose grey t-shirt and a faded pair of grey and blue plaid flannel pajama pants, both of which had obviously been retrieved from one of Zero's drawers. The white design on the front of the tee showed the outline of a large garlic bulb with the words "Bite Me" printed sardonically underneath.

Zero grinned before he could stop himself, ducking his head a little in embarrassment that Kaname had chosen to borrow that particular outfit. The snarky tee made a very amusing sight hanging from Kaname's graceful shoulders, but Zero's chagrin was more because the shirt was one he'd slept in a couple of times recently and then put back in the drawer, figuring he could get more use out of it before putting it in the wash. He was pretty sure the pants were fresh since he preferred boxers, but Kaname _would _have to choose one of the few shirts of his that wasn't freshly laundered... suddenly, Zero realized that it was no accident. Kaname had probably chosen it specifically _because _it had been worn recently. He must have wanted something that carried Zero's scent.

Kaname saw what Zero was looking at and smiled faintly, sipping the tea he was cradling. "Hope you don't mind, I helped myself," he nodded down at the clothes. They were different from the type of pajamas he usually wore, but they were comfortable and soft and the best part was they smelled entirely like Zero. He wouldn't have admitted it, but that was very comforting at the moment.

"Anytime," Zero returned the smile. He wanted to tell Kaname he looked good, but he wasn't sure if he should. The pureblood's wardrobe was quite a bit different from the hunter's. Seeing him in a faded t-shirt and flannel sleep pants like this was unusual and Zero kind of liked it. It made Kaname look more like a college student than a CEO and gave him a casually sexy look, although Zero immediately berated himself for the thought. He shouldn't be thinking about Kaname that way right now. He quickly busied himself by going to the dresser and rummaging around for clothing.

Kaname was too observant for his own good. He saw the momentary glitter of familiar appreciation and desire in his lover's eyes... and he saw it swiftly flicker and die like a doused candle before Zero turned away and pretended to be engrossed in finding something to wear.

He closed his eyes, his fingers tightening around the warm ceramic mug between his hands as he forced himself to breathe slowly and deeply around the pain squeezing his chest. The hunter's reaction was not unexpected and Kaname told himself that it was all right. Zero still loved him; he had proved that he did. That was what mattered. It... it would probably just take a little time before his lover could look at him without thinking of what he'd seen, without it immediately taking the fire out of his eyes and making him withdraw... at least, he hoped so.

Kaname's eyes opened again. He took another long sip of the piping hot tea, enough to lightly scald his mouth and give him something else to think about. He gazed at Zero's back as the hunter retrieved a t-shirt and pair of boxers from the drawer, pulling them on quickly. He liked watching the way the lean, graceful muscles shifted underneath Zero's skin as he moved and the way little water drops ran down his body, hugging the contours that the shifting muscles created. As soon as Zero turned around, Kaname quickly dropped his gaze back to the rim of his cup. He didn't want to make the hunter any more disgusted or uncomfortable with him.

"I made tea, if you want some," Kaname said quietly. "It's in the other room."

Zero shifted a little uneasily when he saw how intently Kaname was studying the mug in his hands. He feared he'd made the other vampire uncomfortable by changing in the same room. _Crap. _He ran his hand through his hair wearily, wondering how else he could screw up.

"Okay, thanks." Glad for something to do, Zero slipped into the adjoining room, which was a little more cluttered than his bedroom. It was technically his study, but Zero used it for too many eclectic purposes for it to really fit the image that such a name implied. There were several stacks of charm books piled on the floor next to the partially empty book case and the desk was currently sporting a half assembled engine block, part of Zero's latest project which consisted of teaching himself enough about motorcycle engines so he could service his own bike. On a table in the corner, there was a well loved and much used deluxe tea and coffee station which Kaname had given him for his last birthday. It had an automatic brew function so Zero could set it before he went to sleep and it would be ready when he woke up.

Zero poured himself a cup of the pale, sweet-smelling tea which Kaname had prepared and left in the pot on the hot plate to stay warm. It was Kaname's favorite tea and, Zero rather suspected, _still _the only kind the pureblood really knew how to make. Or at least the only kind he _chose _to make. Zero wondered sometimes if someone as clever and gifted as Kaname could really be so terribly useless in the kitchen or if he simply didn't care to learn and preferred things made by his lover.

Zero returned to the bedroom with his tea. Kaname hadn't moved from his position on the bed. He seemed to be watching the door as if waiting for Zero to come back, although he looked away again almost as soon as he did. "Sorry," the pureblood said quietly. "I know this isn't the kind you like." He was obviously referring to the drink.

Zero shook his head, taking a sip of the gently steaming beverage. "No, it's fine. You make it good, and I could use something a little sweet right now." Unlike sweet coffee, Zero didn't mind sweet tea on occasion. The hunter hesitated for just a moment before he finally made his way around the bed and sat down next to Kaname, their shoulders brushing lightly. Kaname's body was tense, but he didn't pull away.

Holding his tea with one hand, Zero lightly slid his other arm cautiously around Kaname's waist in what would normally have been a natural gesture. Instead of becoming more tense, Kaname actually relaxed a little, shifting slightly further into the comfortable closeness. The pureblood turned his head towards him and for half a moment, Zero was just on the verge of kissing him.

Kaname froze, his breath stilling slightly, suddenly aching fiercely for that simple touch.

Zero hadn't thought about what he was doing, it was a natural instinct, but he noticed Kaname suddenly go very still. He quickly stopped himself from what he'd been about to do out of concern for his partner's feelings, and turned his head away, taking a quick drink of his tea instead and feeling hideously awkward.

He was trying very hard to seem non-threatening and give Kaname space, so he missed the pain that flittered behind Kaname's eyes as the pureblood's head quickly dropped again. _Ah, no... of course, that was too much to expect just yet. _Kaname blinked rapidly, swallowing the raw lump in his throat with another mouthful of tea. He should have realized the real root of Zero's actions, but their history complicated matters. It wasn't the first time Zero had refused to kiss him, and even though the reasons were very different, it struck an especially sore place inside of Kaname as a result. It made him feel that Zero was subtly pulling away from him, even if unintentionally. _No more than you deserve. Give him time._

At least Kaname could believe that it _was _unintentional on Zero's side. He knew the hunter well enough to know that if he realized Kaname was picking up on his hesitation and was hurt by it, he would immediately force himself past it for his sake. Zero was like that. But it wasn't what Kaname wanted. He didn't want to push Zero or to be accepted out of pity. That would be meaningless. When Zero _wanted _to kiss him again, then he would. When Zero was able to think of him in a sexual way without Nasser getting between them, then he would stop hesitating and drawing back. Kaname was determined to be patient. What else could he do?

Slowly, Kaname let the pain flow away from him and settled back into the comfort of the moment instead. Whatever hesitancies the ex-human may feel, he didn't seem to have an aversion to touching Kaname in this way at least and the arm around his back was very nice. Kaname was weary and emotionally run-out and it felt good to sit here like this with Zero. He could tell the other vampire was not completely at ease with him, but there was no sign of revulsion or rejection in his light embrace. So Kaname let himself just enjoy the warmth of the firm body next to him and the steady, rhythmic pattern of Zero's heartbeat. He leaned ever so slightly more against Zero's side and Zero shifted his arm a little higher, instinctively drawing him in more closely. A faint smile touched Kaname's lips. With Zero close to him like this, he could almost ignore the sickening phantom hands that randomly shivered across his skin, at least for a time.

They sat in silence for a while and Zero eventually set his empty mug down on the floor, tipping his head to rest lightly against Kaname's shoulder. He was tired, it had been a really long day. "Do you want to sleep here?" he asked quietly. "Or I could make up a bed in one of the other rooms if you'd rather," he added quickly, afraid of sounding like there was any pressure implied.

Kaname had also finished his tea, but he kept the mug in one hand, resting it on one knee while his thumb traced the handle. "No," he answered a little too quickly before catching himself and moderating his tone. "I'd rather stay with you." He doubted he was going to be getting any sleep. He was exhausted, but he was too afraid of his own dreams to imagine closing his eyes. Still, even _not_ sleeping would be better with Zero next to him.

Zero lifted his head and smiled. There was no mistaking the genuine pleasure in his eyes. He was glad, he really wanted to stay close to the pureblood at the moment. He probably would have been getting up all day to slip in and check on him if he'd chosen to sleep apart. "Okay." He got up and moved his and Kaname's empty cups to the dresser.

Kaname stared down at his hands as if not sure what to do with them now that the cup was gone. Zero crawled onto the bed, but Kaname didn't move. He knew he should, but he didn't want to lie down. He didn't want to turn off the lights and have to live with his nightmares. He didn't want to have nothing to think about but the dark things that bubbled too easily to the surface of his thoughts and the phantom touch of Nasser crawling across his body, making him want to tear himself.

Zero hesitated when he realized Kaname hadn't moved. He slowly sat down on top of the covers instead of sliding under them and leaned against the headboard. "Hey," he reached over and touched Kaname's shoulder. "You okay?" _Stupid question, of course he wasn't. _

Kaname turned to look at Zero and the hunter saw that his eyes were weary and haunted. "Not really," he admitted quietly, his lips giving a wry twist in faint imitation of a smile.

Zero was surprised by the admission. It showed a lot of trust that the pureblood was being honest and not trying to act like he was fine when he wasn't anymore. He smiled gently and patted the spot next to him in invitation. "Do you want to talk? Or...?" _Or what? _Zero had no idea, but he wanted to be supportive.

Kaname crawled up to the top of the bed and settled next to Zero, also leaning against the headboard. Zero was being very understanding and not making him feel weird about how silly he was being and he appreciated that, it helped him relax a little. "I don't know what I want," he admitted with a sigh. It was so weird and strangely freeing to just say these truths, to admit how confused and lost he felt without fear of consequences, without the need to appear constantly authoritative and in control.

Kaname's gaze rested on Zero, considering him. The hunter was wearing a white tee and navy blue boxers and smelled fresh from his earlier shower. His hair was still damp and messy and he looked tired, but the gaze he had fixed on Kaname was open, compassionate and genuine. He wasn't just waiting for Kaname to _get-over-it-already _so he could get some sleep. The pureblood reached out and lightly touched Zero's cheek. _Such a treasure. He had such a remarkable treasure here._

Zero turned his head and kissed Kaname's palm, enjoying the lovely flicker of warmth in the chocolate eyes until a dark flicker of pain returned and the pureblood dropped his gaze and his hand once more. Zero reached over, sliding his hand into Kaname's where it lay on the bedspread and twining their fingers together. "Tell me what you're thinking," he murmured.

Kaname gave a wry, un-mirthful smile. "That I'm an idiot?"

Zero chuckled. "Well that's not exactly breaking news," he teased. "But what makes you think so?"

Kaname actually managed a real smile at that and tipped his head back against the headboard, closing his eyes. "Never mind. Trust me, you don't really want to know." He wasn't even sure where to start or how to say all the things swirling through his mind.

"Sure I do," Zero was starting to get that familiar stubborn, defiant glint in his eye. "I've been telling you you're an idiot for years. If we're suddenly going to switch positions and I have to start convincing you that you're not, then I at least deserve to know why..." his tone was intentionally light, but he stroked Kaname's knuckles tenderly with his thumb.

Kaname smiled again, eyes still closed. Zero brought a welcome note of levity to the situation and made it easier for him to feel something more akin to normal. He drew a slow, deep breath. Zero thought for a moment that he wouldn't answer, but somewhat to the hunter's surprise, he did.

"I... I can't help thinking that Nasser was right about some things," Kaname admitted. "About me." He sighed again and opened his eyes, his head tilting down once more, gaze falling to study their interlocking hands. "I _did_ want someone who wouldn't put me on a pedestal. Someone who didn't care about my blood or the power of my name," he swallowed and finally dragged his hesitant gaze up to meet Zero's. Kaname had found all those things in the hunter, bundled up with the most beautiful, loving heart and courageous nature he could ever have hoped to find. But it made him feel kind of dirty somehow that Nasser had seen into him that way and twisted even the hidden desires that would eventually lead him to Zero into something ugly. It worried him that if Nasser had been right about that, before Kaname had yet been aware of it himself, what else might he have been right about?

Zero reached over with his free hand and brushed a soft lock of Kaname's hair behind his ear. He firmly resisted the urge to seethe with rage at the sound of Nasser's name. He could tell that Kaname needed to talk, and his lover would clam up fast if Zero started getting upset.

"So what?" he murmured instead, giving Kaname a shrug and a smile. "Just because he's a complete asshole doesn't mean he wasn't smart, unfortunately. Just because he can see things about people, doesn't mean his twisted, self-serving interpretations are correct. He could be right about some things and completely wrong about others, Kaname. A little bit of truth mixed with a convincing lie is a pretty dangerous package... or so someone wise once told me." Zero quirked his eyebrows as he repeated something that Kaname had once said to him.

Kaname rested his head back against the headboard again. That was true. Any really good lie had to have enough truth in it to sound convincing. "Mm, no fair quoting me. Makes it hard to argue."

Zero was pleased at the slight note of amusement in Kaname's weary voice and he squeezed the pureblood's hand. "Then don't argue."

There was comfortable silence for another minute or two before Zero spoke again. "Kaname... I'm sorry," he said quietly, turning his gaze back on his companion again with a softly furrowed brow. "I'm sorry about the way I reacted earlier, after the meeting. I should have tried harder to be more understanding."

Kaname smiled faintly, squeezing Zero's hand this time. "Nothing to apologize for. Considering you found me..." his breath shuddered slightly and his eyes fluttered momentarily closed. "_Kissing _another man," there was no mistaking the self reproachful bite in his voice "I think you were very understanding." Really, it was no wonder Zero didn't feel like kissing right now, not after that.

Zero's brows knit tighter, hating the way Kaname reacted to the memory and feeling his own bile rise as well as he remembered the scene, now with the knowledge of everything that had gone before. "I'm also sorry that I didn't _shoot _the bastard in the head when I had the chance," he added, his voice still quiet but also lethal now, his breath catching a little from the raw fist squeezing his chest. "I wish I had known, Kaname. I would have eviscerated him on the spot, I swear. I wouldn't have let him even come _close _to touching you again..." His throat felt painfully tight, clogged with tears he was suddenly struggling not to shed.

He turned and leaned his forehead against Kaname's shoulder, trying to breathe evenly and kicking himself. _Idiot, you're supposed to be strong for him, not turning into an emotional wreck yourself. _He hadn't intended to react this way, but it hurt so damn bad to know that he couldn't change the past, and when faced with the only part of it which he _could _have influenced, earlier today, he had done nothing but compound the situation.

Kaname smiled faintly, his fingers curling in Zero's hair as he cupped the hunter's head lightly to him. Ironically, it made him feel a little better that he could try to offer comfort as well as receive it. Zero's misguided protectiveness was lovely and precious to him. "I know," he murmured, his own throat feeling dangerously tight as well. "But it really is best that you did not." He kissed Zero's hair lightly.

He wasn't going to say so to Zero, but it would have been disaster if he had tried anything with Nasser. Zero was damn good at what he did. Kaname was very proud of him and he would have bet his life that Zero could have dispatched even Nasser's highly trained, high blood noble assassin / body guard ruthlessly and efficiently if he'd had to. But Nasser himself was another matter. He was the oldest living pureblood on the planet and by his own admission, he'd increased his power by feeding on countless numbers of his own kind over the years. The man was a walking nuclear bomb. It didn't matter how good Zero was, he wouldn't have survived long. Kaname would have quickly gotten between them to protect Zero, and things would really have turned ugly. Two equally matched purebloods battling it out would always come to a draw, probably after leveling half the city. At the moment, however, Kaname was not at all sure he could pretend that he and Nasser were _evenly matched_, especially given the way Nasser could get inside his defenses. It was not a risk Kaname was willing to take yet. He could not afford to confront Nasser like that until he was stronger. Something he was going to have to rectify quickly.

Kaname continued to stroke Zero's hair and the strong, corded muscles on the back of the hunter's neck, soothing himself as much as his companion. Zero felt guilty about earlier, but it was really best that he hadn't known, and Kaname was starting to think that maybe the same was true of certain other situations as well.

Maybe it was a good thing he hadn't remembered either. Not _today _perhaps, it would definitely have helped if he'd known what the hell was going on earlier today, but Kaname was now thinking of all the time before that. He was thinking of the past ten years and everything it had brought him, including his remarkable, unlikely relationship with Zero. How differently might his life had turned out if he had not locked those memories away? Maybe it had been the coward's way out, as the condemning voices inside of him whispered, but maybe... _maybe _it had still been the right call. Or at least, not _such_ a wrong call as he had at first believed.

There was no way for him to be sure how much that trauma might have changed things for him. Might he have succumbed, if he'd known what it was he was craving? Might he have actually gone to Nasser and allowed himself to essentially become the man's slave? Kaname shuddered to even contemplate such a thought, he couldn't imagine that he would have, but for some reason Nasser had seemed to think he would and there was no way for him to know for sure.

Kaname's mind was adept at laying out strategies and instantly mapping out the complex web of diverging possibilities that branched off of every possible move. It did so now almost unconsciously, spinning a dark maze of threads stemming from that one critical moment of change. The ultimate ramifications could have been severe.

Even if he had managed to resist Nasser's draw and continue on with his plans, things still would have been different. Would he have stayed as close as he did to Yuki, if he'd known how tainted he was? Or would he have distanced himself further and watched only from afar? Would he have started accepting the women that all the eager noble families pushed at him, since he'd already lost his virtue and self worth and it would hardly have seemed to matter anymore? And if he found in them only a bitter, empty, meaningless substitute for all the things he couldn't have, how much harder and colder would he have slowly become in order to escape the pain?

And Zero... Zero was the biggest casualty of all in this dark alternate reality. They would likely have still ended up bonded. Even if Kaname had pulled away from Yuki, he would have still fed Zero to protect her. He would have still saved Zero for her sake. He would have still been captured and tortured and eventually driven to the point of having to drink Kiriyu's blood. The bond would still have happened... but what about the rest of it? Would he have even been open to an eventual relationship with Zero with all that baggage hanging on him? Doubtful. The single rape he had remembered had been bad enough, but it had been manageable. Under the weight of the almost crazy passion initially stirred up by their bonding, it hadn't ever seemed very important, of bigger concern then had been the unstable biological depression of his severed bond with old Ichijo. Considering the way Ichijo had recently tormented and abused him, those wounds were more fresh and the driving need to drown them all in Zero's arms had kept his past from intruding into their initial sexual encounters.

But what if he had remembered everything? It would have made things very different. He would still have needed Zero and their bond just as much to survive, but past wounds would have turned it into something dark and terrifying. He would have been much more frightened and angry over his need for the hunter. He might have equated his unreasoning hunger for Zero with the way Nasser had made him feel... and Kaname shuddered to think what that might have meant.

He and Zero had not been close then, they were barely even starting to be friends. If he'd lumped Zero and Nasser into the same category... _God, what might he have done? _Would he have been cold and hard, frightened of being hurt again? Would he have bound the ex-human to him right away for safety's sake, before he even had a chance to realize the incredible treasure he was destroying? Would he have been cruel to Zero, punishing the hunter for things that were not his fault?

Or would he have been scared and simply pushed Zero away harder, hiding from what he felt and much less willing to try to coax the hunter into any kind of lasting relationship with him? Would he have fought more urgently to keep it all just sex between them and nothing more? In either case, he would never have been able to comfortably let Zero take him, either from pride and anger or from fear. Considering the difficult start their relationship had had to begin with, if he had been any more closed and withdrawn at all, or displayed any greater reluctance to sharing an equal partnership with the hesitant hunter... it was quite likely things would not have turned out as they did. Quite likely that he and Zero wouldn't have ended up together as anything but either a master and a slave, or bitter enemies who had the misfortune of being unable to survive without one another. Without love, they would very probably have destroyed one another by now, and if they hadn't, it would only have been because Kaname had done the unforgivable and raped Zero's will, making the pureblood literally no better than Nasser, not to mention completely alone in a very dark world. It was horrible to consider.

Kaname held Zero tighter, pressing his face into his hair as he struggled to breathe around the agonizing pressure kindled by that possible reality. He couldn't imagine living like that. Painful as it was to envision, it made him unimaginably grateful for everything he had right here and now. There had been a lot of hurt in his life, but also a lot of joy. He had found a happiness he'd never imagined and he was holding it close in his arms right now. Thinking that way kind of put everything into perspective and Kaname realized with a start that although he'd been feeling that his life was ruined and over, the exact opposite was the case. Things could have been so much worse. He was alive, and he had Zero. He'd be damned if he let anything, even his own pain, try to take that away from him.

For the first time since recovering his memories, Kaname actually felt like maybe he would get through this eventually. Like maybe someday, he could make his heart and his body believe what his mind said and the pain would begin to fade. That day was not today, but in some indefinable way, he could at least taste that it was possible.

Hot tears slid down Kaname's cheeks and nose, into Zero's hair. They were tears of sorrow, but also confused tears of hope, or at least of appreciation for all that he now realized he could have lost and had not.

Zero felt the moisture on his scalp and straightened up. Unaware of what had brought them on, he was dismayed by Kaname's tears and quickly cupped the pureblood's face in his hands, his thumbs caressing below Kaname's eyes, wiping away the salty moisture. "Sorry," he whispered hoarsely. "I didn't mean to upset you."

To Zero's surprise, Kaname smiled at him through his tears. Just the look in those loving amethyst eyes helped to restore the self-worth that Nasser's malicious savagery had stripped away. Kaname savored it, suddenly struck by how different it was from the distrustful, angry way Zero used to look at him. So much had changed... and for once, it had changed for the better.

"You didn't," Kaname assured, this voice thick. He cleared his throat and helped Zero wipe his eyes with a slightly embarrassed expression. "I was actually just thinking... how differently things could have ended up, with us. I'm so glad they didn't, Zero."

Zero still didn't quite get where the pureblood was coming from, but he could understand and appreciate the sentiment. "Me too."

"Zero," Kaname said earnestly, capturing both of the hunter's hands in his. "Listen... I... I'm sorry I never told you about the part I _did_ remember. You deserved to know. I should have told you sooner," he shook his head again, pain burning brightly behind his eyes.

Zero squeezed his hands. He could well imagine that Kaname had been unable to bring up something like that. Kaname was so private, it would have been hard for him to reveal something so personal and dark, not to mention the misplaced guilt he had obviously felt. Normally, it drove Zero up the wall when Kaname kept things from him, but in this case, he was prepared to be understanding about it. "It's okay, I can understand why you did. It's not something anyone would want to have to remember."

"No," Kaname agreed softly, a little relieved that Zero was willing to be so forgiving. "Honestly, Zero... I almost _didn't_ really remember in the beginning. I don't know if it was because of what I had done to my mind or just because I had intentionally ignored and buried the memory for so long, but I didn't think about it. I mean, when I started being attracted to you and we became... intimate," he clarified quietly, almost shyly, his gaze dropping. He wasn't saying this well.

Kaname's words unintentionally caused a very unsettling thought which Zero had had earlier to reappear and slam into him like a ton of bricks. The hunter's expression swiftly shifted to guilty and horrified. He knew it wasn't what Kaname was trying to say, but in thinking back to those early days, he too was struck by how different their relationship had been... and how rough and apparently uncaring he had often been with the pureblood over the years. _Oh crap..._

Kaname completely misread Zero's expression and his heart started pounding in dread. He shouldn't have tried to explain. He must have said the wrong thing, because Zero suddenly looked almost sick. He thought it was because Zero was now supposing that maybe Kaname had been thinking about Nasser and not him when they had first been together. That was not true at _all, _and Kaname desperately didn't want him to think so.

"I _never_ thought of him when I was with you, I swear," Kaname's quiet voice was both desperate and fierce, indicating that that point was dreadfully important to the pureblood. It wasn't _entirely _true, but it was true enough in spirit. Kaname had remembered nothing but pain about his encounter with Nasser and he'd had other, much more recent bad experiences with Rido and Ichiou right before he and Zero started sleeping together. Naturally, all those things had flittered across his consciousness at one point or another, but until the past few weeks Nasser had not intruded into his and Zero's relationship any more than any of the other specters from their respective pasts.

"I _promise,_" Kaname repeated, his voice cracking as tears started to form again. He was too miserable to feel like an idiot for reacting this way. He was more terrified of Zero's disgust than he had realized and the mere thought of Nasser interfering between them like that made him ill again.

Zero blinked, momentarily at a loss as he struggled to reconcile his own spinning, guilty thoughts with Kaname's sudden, agonized rush of pleading assurances. His brain caught up a second later and he realized what Kaname had just said. It was honestly not something Zero had considered or was worried about, at least, not in the way that Kaname seemed to fear. Was the pureblood really afraid that even the thought of such a thing intruding on their intimacy would somehow disgust or repulse him? Zero realized with a jolt that that was _exactly _what Kaname feared. He seemed to think that his lover was might to take that as some kind of... of _betrayal. Oh, Kaname, how could I ever think that...?_

"No! No..." Zero soothed quickly, leaning forward and kissing Kaname's wet eyes almost urgently. "It's okay, I believe you. I know you didn't," he promised. "That-that wasn't what I was thinking." He realized correctly that Kaname had misinterpreted his reaction to his own thoughts, which were in a way related, but coming from a whole different angle.

Zero ran his hand through his hair. He and Kaname had become very close, but they still had the ability to misunderstand one another completely if they weren't careful. "I was thinking... I was thinking that I was a real jerk back then. I-I didn't know what the hell I was doing in bed, I probably hurt you without even _meaning _to, and even after I got a clue I've not always been gentle and I... I'm just... I'm so sorry..." Zero blinked rapidly, trying to keep the stinging moisture in his eyes from occluding his vision.

He swallowed harshly. In retrospect it horrified him to think that he might have ever unintentionally opened any old wounds or caused Kaname to relive even a moment of fear or pain. Things could get pretty intense sometimes. Kaname had always wanted it... or at least he'd said he had. Sometimes when they were making love, things just spun out of control and his vampire side took over, allowing Zero to do things he would never have otherwise done to someone he loved. Kaname _wanted _that side of him, he was always deliberately teasing and tempting it out, telling Zero how sexy it was. The pureblood occasionally liked a certain amount of SM-style play, it turned him on and Zero knew that. But had Kaname ever flashed back to Nasser's abuse when they were making love? Until recently, when they played really rough Zero usually had to let his vampire instincts rise to the fore in order to enjoy it. He knew he tended to lose himself when that happened, which led to the terrifying question - had Kaname ever been scared? Had he ever missed it because of his clouded state and simply forced Kaname through the motions? _Please... oh please no... _The mere thought killed him inside.

Zero again remembered the time two nobles had attempted to rape him in the park. He'd had nightmares for weeks afterwards and during that time Kaname had been especially careful to be gentle and attentive when they made love, as if determined to wash away all memory of the atrocity with his own tender, intense caring. Zero would have done the same for Kaname, if only he'd known. He was unsure how to put into words what was going through his heart and he shook his head somewhat helplessly. "I hope I never hurt you," he whispered hoarsely.

"No," Kaname assured quickly, accurately following the thread of Zero's thoughts. He felt relieved that he'd misread Zero's angst, and was touched by his concern. He dropped his gaze again, eyes focusing on Zero's hand as he pulled it up and kissed the ex-human's lightly callused palm softly. Zero seemed to be forgetting that Kaname had also been forceful with him on many occasions as well. "No, it was never like that. I've never been afraid with you. You complete me, Zero. Even when you think you're playing rough... you're really so gentle. I... I don't know how to explain it," Kaname placed his hand hesitantly over Zero's heart.

Even though his newly returned memories made him feel all kinds of disgusted with himself and unsure about everything, Kaname still understood that pain and pleasure were both just sensations, flip sides of the same coin. He couldn't un-ring the bell that nature had struck inside him, he couldn't divorce or deny his desire for those two intertwining stimulations, both giving and receiving. It was a part of him, whether he liked it or not, and with Zero... it was an okay part of him. With Zero, he was safe and loved, even when they let the edge of darkness within them play. Zero was simply his perfect mate, there was no other way to explain it.

Kaname touched Zero's face again hesitantly. "You couldn't hurt me," he whispered. It was true, even recently when the memories had started to haunt him and Kaname had actually become afraid, Zero had made him feel loved and safe, even without knowing what was going on inside of his lover.

Zero squeezed Kaname's hand tightly. "You've always been so amazing with me. I hope I was there for you if you needed me. I understand why you didn't tell me, but I wish I'd known, just so I would have been more careful..."

Kaname smiled faintly. "Which I appreciate, but wouldn't have wanted," he murmured. "If you were any more careful you'd drive me crazy. It was years ago, Zero, and I only remembered a little of it. I thought I had put it all behind me. In the beginning it never seemed very important. But... you're right, I should have told you later, after I realized I loved you," the smile faded and Kaname's head drooped again.

"I won't lie and say that it never crossed my mind that I ought to tell you, because it did..." Kaname licked his dry lips, kissing Zero's palm again as if trying to gain enough confidence from the touch to continue. "There's no excuse, really. I was ashamed, pure and simple." Kaname squeezed his eyes shut, drawing another deep, shuddering breath.

"I didn't... I didn't want you to know you weren't my first," the whisper was raw and ragged. Kaname knew he had been Zero's first sexual partner, and he would have given anything to be able to say the same in return, but the truth was so much darker and more sordid. That always seemed the way it was with his life. He'd told Zero once, that they weren't the kind of people who could mark their lives by firsts... but that didn't mean that deep in his heart, Kaname didn't wish with everything he had that that wasn't true.

"I wish you were. _I do. _You... you are in my heart," he murmured miserably. Before his memories returned, he had half-way been able to lie to himself and pretend that what had happened with Nasser almost didn't count because it was more like a form of torture than intimacy. Now, of course... he realized that he had to let that pretense go and face the deeply painful truth. It burned fiercely, knowing that Nasser had taken away something precious and irretrievable that should have gone to Zero. If it had been consensual, or if he'd been in an actual relationship with someone, Kaname might not have minded so horribly. After all, it had happened well before he and Zero were together, or had even met. But it had not been an act of love or even normal hormonal teenage passion that had claimed his innocence, and that just added to the hurt. Nasser had taken so much from him, some of which it seemed he could never get back.

For the second time, Zero found himself surprised to discover what it was that was hurting Kaname. His heart tore in a mixture of intense love and fond, aching incredulity as he realized how tied up in knots over this his lover was. It was true, he'd always kind of assumed that Kaname had never been with anyone before him either, but it wasn't like it really _mattered_ to the way they felt about each other now. And seriously... did Kaname _really_ think he was going to value what they had less because the pureblood had been _raped? _

"Kaname... don't, please..." Zero shook his head, the tears in his eyes burning down his cheeks again despite his efforts to contain them. He was so emotionally run out and aching for Kaname that it was almost impossible to control such things anymore. "Don't think you have to apologize for that." Zero touched the side of his neck, fingers skimming his tattoo in a silent reminder that they had both brought different scars into this relationship. They both had had different first times stolen from them. "You're the one that told me that just because we can't mark our life by firsts, that doesn't make what we have now one bit less special."

Kaname smiled faintly but didn't look up. "There you go again, quoting me. Apparently I need to learn to shut up."

Zero chuckled, wiping his eyes in a futile gesture since the tears were still coming. "Yeah, well, maybe..." he teased. "But every now and again you have your moments. Kaname, you said I was the first in your heart," he murmured, this time pressing his palm softly against Kaname's trembling chest. Kaname looked up and their eyes met and held. "That's all that matters to me," Zero promised. His eyes begged to be believed, radiating earnest intensity. "How could I ever ask for something more special, and wonderful than that?"

Zero held Kaname's open, aching gaze and found himself struggling with conflicting emotions. He knew what he _wanted _to do, what instinct told him to do... he just didn't know if it was the _right _thing to do.

_Oh... to hell with it. _With a million emotions swirling inside of him and not a damn clue how to properly voice any of them, Zero let both hands cup Kaname's jaw again, sliding back into his hair as he gently pulled the pureblood forward, leaning in to give him a firm, but infinitely tender kiss. There was a fierce undertone of possessive protectiveness underlying Zero's gentleness. His throat ached as Kaname's eyes registered surprise for a moment, then glittered with an intense happiness before they fluttered shut, the pureblood's warm mouth molding willingly to his as Kaname tipped his head into the kiss. _Had... had Kaname been _waiting _for him to do this? _

Kaname felt a warm, aching contentment rise in his weary heart, causing it to pound rapidly in his chest at the familiar, lovely sensation of Zero's lips on his. The kiss was unexpected and so very needed. It had been wholly Zero's doing, and there had been no hint of doubt or distaste. Kaname leaned into him, lips parting softly in hesitant invitation. Zero responded slowly, tongue gently touching the inside of Kaname's lip and brushing his teeth.

Kaname shivered and immediately sucked Zero deeper, pulling the hunter into him almost desperately. Zero's taste radiated through his senses like a much needed balm. His hands slid to Zero's shoulders and neck, long fingers stroking and caressing as they curled into the soft hair at the nape of the hunter's neck, holding onto him tightly. He'd been so afraid Zero wouldn't want to kiss or touch him again. So afraid that the hunter would keep hesitating and avoiding that kind of contact because of knowing how sullied he'd been. The beautiful kiss, as much as Zero's words, made Kaname believe that he meant what he said, and that maybe, the special place they had in one another's hearts could somehow make up for a multitude of shortcomings and hurts.

Zero felt a very small, barely noticeable sob shake Kaname's breath as they embraced. For a second he almost pulled away, afraid he was causing more hurt, but at that moment Kaname's eyes opened and Zero saw in their depths just how deeply the pureblood both feared rejection and craved reassurance. So Zero stopped doubting himself and did what he wanted to do. He kissed Kaname deeper, with as much passionate tenderness as one soul could pour into another, wanting desperately to be able to take all that pain away. He knew he couldn't, but he could love Kaname, and hope that was enough.

Kaname shifted around to his knees so he could face Zero more easily and explore his mouth more deeply. Zero did the same, his arms sliding around Kaname's waist.

"Kaname," he murmured against his lover's lips after a minute or two. "You didn't choose any of what happened, and as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't even count when it isn't your choice." He could only hope that his eyes somehow conveyed what he couldn't find the words for - how precious Kaname was to him, and that he felt no lacking at all between them. "Okay?"

Kaname soaked up Zero's affection and acceptance like a dry, torn sponge, his heart swelling almost unbearably. He nodded softly, forehead brushing Zero's. His eyes stung, but he wasn't sad. When Zero looked at him like this, when he could feel the warmth of the hunter's life pressed against him, when he was viscerally reminded of all the wonderful things they had shared and had yet to share... it did something to him. Something good.

Kaname wrapped his arms around Zero's neck and kissed him again, intensely. "Okay," he conceded in a somewhat shaky murmur. He wasn't entirely sure he believed it yet... but he _wanted _to. Arms tightening around his lover, Kaname surprised Zero by falling backwards, taking Zero down to the bed with him.

Zero struggled to catch himself and not land too heavily on top of the pureblood, but Kaname's embrace kept him close, hands running up and down the hunter's back as he kissed Zero's lips and chin almost desperately. He wanted Zero. He needed him so much. Zero's kisses brought to life something that had felt like it was dead inside him, and he wanted more. _Breathe life into me, Zero... make me remember what it feels like to be whole, to be loved. _

Kaname's thighs curled around Zero's hips, legs twining around the back of Zero's knees and holding him even closer. His soft, urgently searching hands slid up Zero's back under his shirt, dragging it up his body a little. The loose t-shirt Kaname was wearing had ridden up some when he fell onto the bed and Zero felt his lover's smooth, hard stomach press against his own, the skin-to-skin contact burning with unexpected warmth.

Zero felt a deep, confused shudder pull through him as he suddenly found himself straddling his lover's body, all but pinned to him. This was totally unexpected and his mind struggled to catch up to what was happening, which wasn't helped by the fact that his _body_ had caught on all too quickly. _Whoa... wait... this was happening too fast. _

Kaname shivered, hard. He could feel someone else's hands, someone else's body pressing down on him, and he hated it. It was so wrong, he needed to only feel Zero. He inhaled his lover's scent, dragging it deeply into his lungs. It stilled some of the pain inside him and dulled the quaking, primal wail of need that had been preying on him since his bought with Nasser earlier. He buried his face against Zero's neck, inhaling again and feeling the tightness ease a little further.

"K-Kaname..." Zero's voice was soft and unsure.

Kaname quickly moved back to Zero's mouth, kissing him into breathless silence. He rocked his body up against Zero, unintentionally groaning into their kiss and not leaving much doubt about what he wanted. Despite his resolve to not push Zero, he'd already come too far. He felt like it would kill him if Zero rejected him now, after he'd laid himself this open. "Please..." he groaned softly against Zero's lips. "Please love me."

Zero felt confused tears sting his eyes at the desperate little plea. He kissed Kaname back devotedly. "I do," he rasped softly, voice catching. "So much, Kaname." He leaned his elbows on either side of Kaname's shoulders, returning his intense kisses for a few minutes as he tried to clear his head. Not easy to do with Kaname now gripping his butt and kneading it with expert fingers as he rocked Zero down against his seductively undulating form.

Kaname pulled Zero down against him, feeling the hunter's strong, toned rear beneath the thin boxers and the firm, delicious friction of stomach and hips as their bodies met and ground together. He was a jumbled mess inside. There was a part of him that was afraid of what he wanted, but there was a bigger part of him that was more afraid of meeting with rejection. He needed Zero to want him. He needed to know that he was still desirable, and that Nasser hadn't tainted his lover's feelings for him on this level. He needed to prove that he belonged to the hunter, so that Zero _could _want him. He need to replace the past with the present.

Zero's heart was pounding and he struggled to not get too carried away in the sudden riptide he'd been caught up in. Kaname was presenting himself very deliciously, but it seemed wrong and startling somehow after everything that had just happened. He was still so afraid of hurting Kaname. It didn't appear at all wise to go down the path the pureblood seemed to want to tread right now, no matter how inviting it was.

If this was _really_ what Kaname wanted, then... well... it would be really easy to respond to him. But _was_ it what he wanted, or was Kaname just trying to prove something to Zero because he thought he had to? Unfortunately, he wouldn't put that past Kaname. The pureblood could be frighteningly, almost stupidly selfless when he felt uncertain or needed reassurance of his lover's affections. Zero's hesitancy was almost overwhelmed as Kaname's hips rolled up against him again, the friction and the enticing heat of the pureblood's hands under his shirt momentarily overriding his rational objections.

Zero gasped almost helplessly, struggling for a level of control that was threatening to slip away from him. His fingers tangled in Kaname's hair and he tipped the pureblood's head back, angling his head so he could press his tongue fully into the hot, trembling mouth under him. Kaname responded beautifully and Zero found himself starting to rock against his lover's body as fire tingled through his nerves.

With almost inhuman effort, Zero forced himself to slow down, to try to stop and think. He worried that either intentionally or unintentionally, Kaname's pheromones were playing on him and threatening to make him start forgetting why this was probably wrong. _Oh hell no. _Zero was not about to let vampire biology hurt Kaname anymore than it already had. _No. Freaking. Way. _He pressed his eyes shut, seeking strength.

Kaname whimpered softly, frustrated and frightened that Zero wasn't really responding very well to him. Zero was still kissing him, but it was obvious now that he was hesitating at going farther, despite the humiliatingly wanton display Kaname was making of himself. The pureblood felt himself flush with shame. He really was such a whore. Now he'd probably pushed Zero too hard, too fast and he would think so too.

A soft sob caught in Kaname's chest. Zero felt it echo through them both and quickly opened his eyes. Alarmed to find unshed tears glimmering in the dark eyes beneath him, he quickly forced himself to break off the kiss, breathing raggedly. _No, no, no...! _

Kaname felt like he was going to crumble when Zero pulled back and he knew for sure that he'd blown it royally. He went limp. The tears in his eyes escaped down the sides of his face in hot trails of heartache. To prove how utterly and totally pathetic he was, his chest started hitching uncontrollably. He was not sobbing, he was _not._.. _Stupid, stupid, STUPID idiot! _He was always pressing when he shouldn't and ruining everything. He turned his face away, cheeks burning in disgrace. He pressed the side of his head against the bedspread as if he could hide in it, feeling the cool, quilted weave under his feverish skin.

Tenderly, almost frantically, Zero cupped flaming Kaname's face between his palms as he leaned over him, gently turning his head back to center. He was still straddling the pureblood and he quickly shifted to get his knees under him, carrying more of his own weight so as to not trap Kaname so firmly the mattress. "Kaname, I'm sorry... it's okay... I won't hurt you, I promise, I'm so sorry..." he almost babbled. He'd hardly been the one to initiate this, but he felt like it was somehow his fault anyway. He shouldn't have let his libido run away with him even this far. Kaname came first. Zero could never, ever hurt him, no matter what signals the mixed up pureblood was sending.

Something in Zero's panic made it through Kaname's self-condemning fears. _I won't hurt you. _Was that why Zero was hesitating...? Or... or... "It's not b-because you think I'm a w-whore?" Kaname murmured in a trembling voice as he tried to still his stupid tears. There was really no excuse for how incredibly infantile and weepy he was being.

The absolutely stunned and confused look on Zero's face was answer enough. Zero couldn't lie good enough to fake an expression like that. "WHAT?" The hunter shook his head, trying to figure out where in the hell that incomprehensible notion had come from.

"I mean w-why you don't want to touch me. I thought... maybe it made you think of me w-with _him_," Kaname confessed. Trembling fingers slid up to comb through Zero's silver locks as they hung about the hunter's face. The pureblood's eyes were so afraid, swimming in self doubt and fearful of rejection.

Zero hated that look. It cut right through his heart. He would do anything to erase it from his lover's expression. Sometimes, he was completely torn between wanting to punch Kaname for being so stupid and wanting to kiss him and hold him comfortingly. Right now of course, the latter won out, but still... he couldn't even _believe _that Kaname could think such a ridiculous thing. But he supposed that for the hurting pureblood, it wasn't ridiculous, and he realized with a deep pang how all his attempts to be considerate just now might have in fact been entirely misunderstood. _Well, crap. They still had to work on this understanding thing, apparently. _

"No, Kaname... no. Believe me, I _want _to touch you," he said with a shaky smile. He was still kneeling over Kaname, their bodies close enough to brush, and the slight firmness that was pressing against Kaname's stomach was kind of proof of that. "All I think of when I look at you, is _you_. Please don't ever call yourself that again, you _aren't. _I could never think of you that way. I _want _to make love to you, Kaname, but we don't have to do it right now," he whispered softly. "I love you. I'm yours. I know you love me, and you're mine. You don't have to prove it." They had a pretty well entrenched history of solving or at least soothing personal problems with intimacy. He didn't want to use Kaname when he was in such a fragile, traumatized state simply because Kaname thought it was necessary in order for Zero to know he loved him.

"I don't want to hurt you, and I don't want you to _ever _think that you _have _to do something just to make me happy or prove that you love me. Because I already know that, Kaname..." Zero brushed his lips slowly and tenderly across the pureblood's mouth. "And it means..." Zero kissed him softly, moist lips sliding together in a gentle, heated caress. "The world to me." The hunter's breath hitched in a soft hiccup that was almost a little sob. He really couldn't contain or put into words just _how much_ it meant, but his adoring lilac gaze was overflowing with it. "I'd do anything for you," he promised breathlessly against his beloved's lips.

Kaname's aching heart felt very full under the weight of Zero's gaze and the soft touch of his tender kisses. He'd misread Zero. He should have known it. He should have realized this possible alternate explanation. His pain and self-doubts were making him slow and stupid. He felt the agonized knot inside him melting gradually, like ice in the sun. A soft, trembling relief seemed to lighten his limbs. Zero looked at him like he was some incredibly precious treasure, like he was someone worthy of all that amazing, heartfelt adoration. Even if Kaname couldn't agree with that notion right now... still, Zero looked at him that way.

"Then..." Kaname whispered, voice slightly shaky as his fingers glided through Zero's hair again, tucking the short silver strands back behind the hunter's ears. "Make love to me, please." The whisper was soft, almost pleading. "I know I don't _have _to," he said quickly upon seeing the hesitation in Zero's gorgeous eyes as they gazed down at him. "But I _want _to. I _need _to. Please, Zero... all these memories in my head... I don't know what to do with them. I feel so filthy. I can't make them stop," he admitted. "But when you were kissing me... they were quiet. I could just think about you. Maybe I shouldn't ask, I'm almost afraid I'll make you dirty too, somehow, just by touching me..." his breath caught in his throat. It sounded dumb when you actually said it out loud, but it was what he felt. Despite what Zero said, Kaname _did_ need to prove something, even if it was just to himself.

Zero's gaze turned even more tender if that was possible and his hands slid to Kaname's shoulders, his thumb stroking Kaname's neck lightly. "Kaname... touching you could never make anyone dirty. It's like... like touching heaven..." he whispered honestly. He felt embarrassed at how terribly corny that sounded, but really, he had no idea what to say. He was wandering around lost here and just hoping that somehow he could try to do and say the right things to sooth Kaname's pain.

Kaname gave a soft, humiliating little sob that he couldn't hold back, his eyes fluttering closed for a moment. "Then make me forget," he whispered, his cheeks pinking at how silly the request probably sounded. His hands curled around Zero's shoulders, his eyes opening again to fix earnestly on the hunter. Zero's love was so pure... Kaname felt like he wanted it to cleanse him, to wash away the horrible phantom memories crawling all over his skin. "Please, Zero. Let it be your touch I'm feeling now, let it be only you I remember..." he whispered hoarsely. His eyes closed again. He felt so humiliated for asking in such a pathetic, ridiculous way. _Damn, how un-romantic was that?! _

Zero felt another deep shudder course through him. He actually found that soft, unexpected plea to be quite appealing in a way he couldn't have explained. It was almost as if Kaname was asking him to save him... and Zero wanted to, so badly. This probably wasn't a good idea. He doubted Kaname was really ready to be intimate, despite his apparent need for it. It almost felt as if the pureblood were testing him, as if Kaname needed physical proof of his love and desire so he could really believe it. As unadvised this may be, however, Zero was fully aware now that refusing would hurt Kaname far worse than anything else.

He leaned down and kissed the bridge of Kaname's nose softly, making the pureblood open his eyes. _Please don't let me mess up... please let me do this right. _The silent prayer ran through Zero's mind as he saw the glitter of hesitant desire and vulnerability in his lover's dark eyes. His own gaze flickered adoringly as he looked down at the pureblood, not letting Kaname see his hesitation now. "I know I say sometimes that you're a difficult person to live with, Kaname. But I'm tempted to take it all back at the moment. I say I'd do anything for you... and you ask me for what I already want to do more than anything," he murmured, his eyes soft with loving amusement.

Kaname smiled almost shyly, but it was a real smile, one that managed to touch his eyes and it eased Zero's nervousness a little. The hunter dipped his head and brushed his lips across Kaname's in a gentle caress. Kaname's breath was warm against his skin as the pureblood exhaled with a soft shudder, lips parting.

Zero kissed him slow this time, tenderly exploring every inch of Kaname's mouth as the pureblood's hands slid under his shirt again. He kept his eyes open, holding Kaname's gaze reassuringly and watching him closely for any flicker of discomfort with what they were doing. Although Kaname's eyes still reflected a lot more vulnerability than Zero was used to seeing in them, they were also warm now, almost hopeful.

"Mmm," Kaname murmured softly into the sweet heat of their lingering kiss as his knees hesitantly slid back up on either side of Zero's hips. With the desperation of fearing rejection eased, he felt more shy now, more uncertain about what to do... but not at all uncertain about what he wanted. His emotions were still a seething ball of confusion, but here in Zero's arms, with the hunter looking at him with such tender adoration... he could almost feel whole again, even if just for a few moments.

The pureblood had had an intensely lonely life, but he wasn't lonely anymore. Nasser had preyed on him when he was vulnerable and empty, but those days were gone. The hole in his life had been filled with a wonderful, completely unlikely love. As long as Zero looked at him like that, held him like this, and cared about him the way he did... then somehow it made the past hurt less, or at least, made it seem a lot less important than the present.


	22. Your Arms Feel Like Home

_A/N: Warnings apply for large amounts of syrupy sappiness and a citrusfest that pretty much takes up the whole chapter. :D LOL I swear, we'll get back to the plot next chapter. I was a little more descriptive in certain ways than I usually am. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. You'll have to let me know if you all like it or if it's better when I stay slightly more euphemistic. :)_

_Chapter title comes from the 3 Doors Down song of the same name. I've referenced it before in my stories, but haven't used it as a chapter title and I just couldn't resist because it's so perfect for K & Z. _

**Chapter Twenty-Two: "Your Arms Feel Like Home"**

Zero kissed Kaname slowly and thoroughly, supporting himself on his elbows, his forearms encircling Kaname's head almost protectively as he leaned over him, fingers tangled loosely in the pureblood's dark hair. Kaname returned the same, kissing Zero back with an almost single-minded intensity, small shivers running through him every so often as his palms traced the contours of Zero's back beneath his t-shirt.

Their bodies rocked together and the naked skin of their stomachs slid and pressed against one another tantalizingly as their shirts rode further up their bodies under the unhurried motion of the familiar dance. A symphony of sensation hummed in their blood, their hardening arousals only slightly hampered by the thin material of pajamas and boxers.

Kaname pushed his hips up against Zero hesitantly, his breath quickening slightly each time his hardness rubbed up against the firm, muscular planes of Zero's stomach. Zero's firmness was pressing against his thigh and sending additional thrills skittering up his spine. Kaname wanted more. He wanted to press into Zero harder and faster. Wanted to erase the dark thoughts and irrational fears chasing around inside his head and replace them with a frenzy of passion, but he was afraid of seeming too wanton. That was not usually a negative thought when he was with Zero, but after everything he'd remembered, he was much more self-conscious and uncertain than usual.

He was behaving more like you might with someone you'd only been dating for a little while, rather than someone you'd been intimate with for years. It wasn't an entirely unpleasant sensation, however. In a way, his hesitancy to take what he normally would have pushed for right away added to the sensuality of the experience. The soft, sweet burn of delayed gratification curled in his stomach, increasing his hunger for each brush, each kiss, each thrill.

Dark eyes fluttered shut in enjoyment, but that was a mistake. There was hell behind his eyelids in the darkness of his mind. His eyes quickly jerked open again, his breath catching slightly. His gaze darted guiltily up towards Zero, hoping he hadn't noticed, although that was an almost impossible wish considering that they were mere inches apart. Zero's gaze on him was heated with desire, but it was also soft in some indefinable way. Kaname could instantly tell that Zero had clearly seen what was going on inside him, but the hunter's compassionate eyes reflected only a steady glimmer of reassurance and love.

Zero dipped his head and kissed Kaname again, sucking his lower lip and caressing Kaname's sensitive, partially aroused fangs thoroughly with his tongue, driving the demons away and gently demanding that Kaname think of nothing but him. He knew the dark, haunted shadow that flittered into Kaname's gaze for what it was as he felt the pureblood tense under him, but he now knew better than to pull back or react. That would only make his lover hurt more.

For better or worse, Kaname seemed to need him right now, and to need _this. _He was reminded a little of the very first time they'd made love. Kaname had needed him then, too. He'd needed Zero to make him forget the biological repercussions of what had happened with Ichiou. That was the same thing Kaname wanted now, he realized. To forget. To focus on this one thing that had quite literally saved him at least once before.

So instead of following his natural instinct to retreat, Zero increased the fervor and intensity of his caresses. He licked and sucked Kaname's budding fangs until they were completely extended and no doubt throbbing. He pressed his hips down more firmly against his lover's. He shifted up a little so he could deliberately trace the clearly outlined bulge under Kaname's thin flannel pants with the strong length of his own aroused body. The thin material between them slid and strained, sticking and clinging as the fabric started to become damp, which only increased the sensation of their motions.

"Uhnn...!" Kaname half moaned, half exhaled in ecstasy, almost shaking as Zero drove him sweetly crazy, blessedly not giving him time to think about anything else. His back arched against the mattress, body pressed up against Zero, wanting the incredibly delicious contact as the hunter skillfully stroked up one side of his arousal and then the other.

Zero was pleased to see the shadows retreat from Kaname's face, replaced with an almost urgent glow of desire. He knew they weren't gone, but he would do anything to banish them for even a little while. He felt a small groan catch in his own throat as he and Kaname ground rhythmically together, the adagio waltz they were dancing slowly shifting to a more agitato pace. _Damn... _it certainly wasn't any kind of hardship to put all his effort into _this_.

Heart pounding, Zero tugged his shirt off over his head, liberating Kaname's hands to explore more freely, an opportunity of which they availed themselves quickly. Long fingers traced Zero's shoulders and the sinewy muscles along his back and sides as they rippled and tensed from the motion of their rocking.

Zero's mouth found Kaname's again and his hands slid to the pureblood's sides, traveling up under Kaname's shirt and feeling the same smooth, firm lines of muscle under the pureblood's skin. He loved the way Kaname's body felt. It was deceptively slender and graceful, but highly toned and rippling with power. It was like stroking a tiger - beautiful, lissome and deadly - yet Zero always felt completely safe with him.

Kaname whimpered softly in pleasure. Zero loved the sound, but he saw Kaname's flushed cheeks pink a little more and the pureblood turned his hot face against the side of Zero's neck, hiding as he pushed up against Zero, wanting more, but obviously unusually shy and self-conscious of his own desires and reactions.

Zero had never seen Kaname act embarrassed about how responsive he was to his lover's touch, at least not in a really, really long time. He knew it was because of Nasser. Kaname seemed somehow ashamed of how he felt now because the other vampire had used sex and pleasure as a weapon to humiliate him. Nasser had forced unwanted sensations on the younger pureblood and then made Kaname feel like a slut for enjoying them. Zero smothered a dark swell of anger, catching it in time before his lover could pick up on the emotion.

Zero kissed Kaname's shoulder through his shirt, hips rocking slowly but ardently against the pureblood. He wanted so much to let Kaname know it was okay, that he didn't have to be ashamed. Zero found it unimaginably hot when his lover was like this. He wondered if he'd ever told Kaname that, and decided that maybe now was a good time to do so.

"Mmm... Kaname," he panted softly, nibbling on the few inches of exposed skin where the neck of the pureblood's t-shirt had slid to one side along his shoulder. "I love the way you taste, the way you sound..." his voice purred huskily, giving deep credence to his pleasure-heated words. "I love the way you respond to me. It makes me want you so much..." He kissed his way up Kaname's jaw, tipping the pureblood's head gently back to the bed so he could capture his mouth again. "You drive me crazy... I think you do it on purpose."

Kaname's eyes were hesitant but slightly pleased as their gazes met again. He seemed truly relieved that Zero found his reactions desirable, not dirty. He gave a small smile that was trying to be seductive but couldn't mask his inner vulnerability. "Would you like it if I was?" he murmured, rocking his body a little more invitingly underneath Zero.

Zero chose to not let Kaname see that he knew what the pureblood was thinking, or the fact that he could perceive the uncertainty still written all over behind his eyes. He knew that would only embarrass Kaname further and he didn't want his lover to think he was saying these things just to comfort him. They were nothing but the absolute truth.

Zero smirked heatedly as he worried Kaname's lower lip between his teeth, intentionally grinding his hips down against Kaname's body again and making the pureblood gasp softly. "I like anything you do," he purred, voice humming in his throat. "I love the way... you writhe... when I do... this..." Zero murmured between breathless kisses. One hand cupped Kaname's cheek while the other slid down between them to massage and stroke the hard bulge under the soft, damp fabric of Kaname's pajama pants in time with his words, causing Kaname to indeed writhe very beautifully on the mattress.

Zero captured Kaname's length in his grip, through the soft flannel. He rubbed the thin, fleecy material back and forth over the weeping head of his lover's swollen erection with his thumb, making Kaname keen helplessly in delight as he pressed feverishly into the hunter's strong, gentle hands. "And all the little sounds you make... when I do this..." Zero's voice trembled with arousal, his loving eyes rimmed in black which clearly indicated just _how _intoxicating he found the pureblood.

"Zero!" Kaname gasped softly, clinging to his lover as his body burned beautifully. He still felt self-conscious but the ex-human's lovely ministrations and whispered words took the sting out of his uncertainty. Nasser had made Kaname feel that his desire for this kind of contact, especially the act of surrendering himself, was something he wanted because he was weak and sullied, but if his reactions pleased Zero... then he wouldn't try to hide them. Just as well, since that didn't seem possible anyway.

"_Damn, _Kaname..." Zero groaned softly, his heart thudding against his lover's chest. He was not usually so verbose during sex, but it seemed to be helping Kaname and once started it wasn't too hard to think of a lot of things which he adored about the pureblood. "You're so sexy. I love how strong you are... and that you trust me so much."

Zero saw the glitter of surprise in Kaname's gaze. "I-I'm not strong, Zero," he murmured, voice catching slightly both from arousal and heartache. "But I don't mind being weak... with you."

Zero felt a sharp stab through his chest which was equal parts love and anguish. That was not an idle statement from a pureblood who feared weakness almost above all else and the hunter knew how precious it was... but he also knew how wrong Kaname was about himself. He smiled, kissing Kaname's nose and tweaking the firm erection he was still holding in his hand, making the other vampire squirm pleasurably.

"_You, _are the strongest person I know," he replied earnestly. "We wouldn't be doing this if you weren't." His amethyst eyes were incredibly gentle. "I know this isn't easy for you right now, Kaname," he whispered seriously. "I know it's never been easy for you to give your heart to me the way you do. Life didn't teach either of us that it was okay to trust anyone deep enough to risk getting hurt. But _you _taught me that." His hands slid up to Kaname's hair, running his fingers through the dark curls tenderly. He pressed a chase kiss on Kaname's slightly parted lips, holding the pureblood's surprised gaze.

Kaname left himself very open to his lover, and Zero knew that. The depths of the pureblood's need and love for the hunter could leave him defenseless. At times like this, he allowed the ex-human to take him and control him completely, but Zero knew it was not because Kaname was weak. It was because he was _strong_. Strong enough in himself to be able to surrender without losing his pride. Strong enough to be able to trust, to let go and give himself to someone else because he _wanted_ to, even when the entire world told him he shouldn't. He was strong enough to push past even his own horrific memories and do what he was doing now, fighting so hard to not let the past chain him. No, Kaname was definitely not weak, quite the opposite. Zero knew full well the beautifully terrifying power lying just under the surface of the lovely, willing body beneath him. That juxtaposition was not only deeply appealing, it also made the way Kaname behaved with him even more amazing and precious. Kaname had the power and brute strength to demand anything, but with Zero he always chose to give as well as take.

"It doesn't take strength to hide your heart... it takes strength to let someone else hold it in their hand when you know they could crush it so easily." A glitter of earnest, unshed tears showed momentarily in Zero's eyes before he blinked them back. He was speaking from personal experience now. "You taught me that, too. You showed me how to be that strong. I love you so much, Kaname." Even though the young hunter felt like he was being almost embarrassingly loquacious, it still seemed quite inadequate compared to what he _wanted_ to say, but didn't know how to put into words. Yet the look in Kaname's eyes suggested that the words he _had_ found still meant quite a lot.

Zero kissed Kaname again and Kaname leaned into him. His chest shuddered slightly with a crazy but beautiful mix of emotions as they sucked the breath from one another's bodies. Kaname was even more open than usual right now, Zero could feel it. He knew it was a result of how terribly vulnerable his lover was and he tried to tread carefully as a result. Kaname was obviously aroused and eager to please, but he seemed to be waiting for Zero to set the pace. He touched and stroked and kissed Zero, but he wasn't trying to undress the hunter or himself. Kaname was not usually terribly patient about getting Zero naked, but this time he didn't try to hurry things along and they spent many long, torturously blissful minutes just making out and exploring one another with their hands and lips.

It was lovely, even if it didn't feel entirely natural. While the pureblood was never adverse to letting Zero take the lead, it was not in Kaname's nature to be _too _passive or docile. He often tended to subtly top from the bottom, unconsciously guiding or goading even when Zero was making love to him. That was definitely not the case right now, however.

Zero was still inwardly hesitant to be too aggressive given the situation. He was waiting for some kind of indication that Kaname was ready to go further, but it was slowly becoming apparent he wasn't going to get one aside from his lover's increasingly agonized little groans of pleasure. He was going to have to make that call himself and hope he was continuing to do the right thing.

Gently, Zero pushed Kaname's shirt all the way up his chest, letting it bunch under his armpits. The cool air brushed across Kaname's exposed nipples, followed by the much warmer brush of Zero's breath as he blew lightly across one hardening nub before drawing it into his mouth. He kissed and licked the delicate skin before drawing back and blowing on it again. Kaname shivered and Zero smiled, leaning up to give another kiss to his lover's already kiss-flushed lips.

Still moving carefully, Zero slid the shirt farther, nudging Kaname's arms up to help him tug it off. Kaname hesitated for half a heartbeat and then complied, lifting his arms and head, helping Zero remove the tee.

The pureblood's pulse pounded faster. Zero undressing him was beautifully erotic, especially since it indicated to him the all important fact that Zero still _wanted _to undress him, but he couldn't deny that it made him feel ridiculously exposed. _Good grief, it was only his shirt. _

Zero's hands traced Kaname's body slowly, silver head bent as he laid warm trails of kisses across his lover's collarbones and shoulders. Kaname was tense again, but Zero knew how to relax him. His questing lips found the side of Kaname's throat. He started off kissing and licking before graduating to sucking and nibbling. He drew the flushed, sensitive skin into his mouth, feeling the rapid pulsing of Kaname's blood in his veins as he sucked on the pureblood's bite area firmly enough to make Kaname's toes curl and his stomach flip-flop. Kaname's feet worked restlessly against the bed, he shifted and squirmed under Zero, making the hunter's aroused nipples press into his stomach. His head arched back hard against the mattress as hot pleasure flowed in eager waves from where Zero was latched onto his neck.

Zero released him, kissing the reddened flesh and licking it slowly before sucking it into his mouth again and working it even more ardently. Fully aware of how sensitive Kaname's neck was, Zero focused on giving him what would have been one hell of a hickey if Kaname had been capable of retaining the bruise.

Kaname's eyes practically rolled back in his head and his body jerked spasmodically with pleasure. He gasped his lover's name mindlessly. His hips ground up urgently against Zero's thigh as it slid between his legs. Zero groaned in his throat, thoroughly exploring that very responsive part of Kaname's anatomy which the hunter's possession had made increasingly _more_ sensitive over the years they had been together.

Although the almost blinding pleasure made it beautifully hard to think, a sudden, unexpectedly meaningful realization warmed Kaname, easing at least a little of the ache out of his underlying feelings of worthlessness. This unique pleasure, this part of himself was something that had always belonged to Zero, so in at least one way, the ex-human was his actual first. For a pureblood, sharing blood from one's neck was arguably _more _intimate than intercourse, since the first was usually reserved only for bondmates or other _very_ special people while the second was far more easily dispensed in vampire society. Maybe it was silly, but Kaname's heart latched onto that thought and held it tightly. He _wanted _to be Zero's, he wanted to feel that in the ways which really mattered, he always had been.

Ironically, it wasn't a problem for Kaname that Ichiou had bitten him later, after he had already been feeding Zero. That had been completely different. In his mind it was a simple matter of battling predators and he had much less trouble drawing the distinction between being attacked and being willing. Given the opportunity, any enemy vampire would go for blood - especially his blood - but that wasn't the same as _sharing_ it. Perhaps the real reason he gave it no mind, was because that situation held its correct place in the flow of time and he had long ago put it all behind him. One of the big problems with his newly returned memories was that it felt like they had all happened _yesterday_ instead of many years ago. Realistically, he hadn't even known Zero yet when Nasser had forcefully seduced him, but thanks to the messed up emotional timeline in his head, he couldn't help feeling like he had betrayed his lover somehow, even though Zero insisted he hadn't. Kaname burned for a forgiveness that Zero had already given him... so perhaps it was only _he_ who needed to forgive _himself_.

"Zero!" Kaname's fingers were gripping Zero's shoulder blades tightly, his body shuddering in spasms which made his stomach convulse and tremble.

Zero eased up a little on the intensity of his ministrations so as not to push Kaname too far too soon. He wasn't sure about just necking, but he knew from experience that with only a little extra stimulation down below, it was possible to make Kaname come from being bitten. He wondered, given the way Kaname seemed to be becoming ever more sensitive to him as time went on, if somewhere along the line it wouldn't even take any stimulation other than blood sharing to push his lover over the edge. That was an unexpectedly arousing thought and Zero moaned unintentionally, his fangs lightly scrapping the moist, swollen flesh he was teasing.

Kaname shuddered, the fingers of one hand sliding into Zero's hair. "Please..." he pleaded in a hoarse, pleasure-laden whisper. He wanted his lover's fangs so badly he could barely hold still.

Zero hadn't actually been intending to bite Kaname at all, but the plea was so desperate and his own swelling desire to share that closeness was so strong now that he complied easily. Gently, his aroused fangs pierced Kaname's flushed and swollen flesh, sinking deeply but carefully into the most sensitive part of his neck. He avoided striking any significant veins or arteries and he drew from Kaname with slow, tender deliberation. He wasn't looking to feed, this was about the sensation and the intimacy of the act.

Even though he was only taking a little bit, the taste of Kaname's blood and the way it connected Zero to the other vampire exploded through the hunter's consciousness with its familiar, sun-burst brightness. He and Kaname were both growling and mewling softly in ways that would have sounded really odd and embarrassing save for the heavy glaze of arousal that thankfully kept them from noticing such things in the heat of the moment.

Because of his own memories which had been stirred earlier, Zero realized that it was odd how much his views of this act had changed. It used to make him feel so guilty and ashamed. The act of drinking blood had been the ultimate representation of everything that had been done to him, of the fact that he was no longer human. Now, at least between he and Kaname, he felt quite differently about it. There were few things more intimate than sharing the very lifeblood of your partner. He still had an inborn distaste towards the whole principle of feeding in general, but somewhere along the line he and Kaname had become exempt from that mindset. It wasn't just food after all... it was another way they made love.

After a minute or two Zero withdrew his fangs, kissing and licking the punctures closed. He kissed Kaname's mouth softly, the tang of blood still on his lips. Kaname attentively licked the crimson smears off his lover's mouth and chin like a cat. His own blood wasn't particularly tasty to him, but he always enjoyed licking it off Zero's skin.

Zero's hands slid down Kaname's sides, fingers lightly circling the top of his pajama pants. They had worked their way down a little, exposing planes of toned abdomen below his navel and the graceful curve of flesh from abdomen to hip bones. The loose elastic waistband clung invitingly to the contours of the pureblood's hips, practically begging to be removed.

Zero traced the smooth, warm skin above the waistband, caressing the sexy little jut of Kaname's hip bones which were just barely exposed. He was literally burning to slid the pants the rest of the way off, but he hesitated, stroking the inviting skin questioningly. The pureblood had tensed again when his hands had found the waistband. He needed to know if Kaname wanted this. He was trying to be the gentle, self-assured lover that Kaname seemed to need, but he was afraid too. He didn't want Kaname to misunderstand his hesitation again, but he also didn't want Kaname think he couldn't change his mind if he wanted to back out.

"Is this okay?" Zero finally came out and asked, whispering it against Kaname's skin as his fingers continued to caress the sensitive area below the pureblood's navel. "It's all right if it isn't, all you have to do is tell me," he promised, kissing Kaname's neck softly.

Not so terribly afraid of Zero's rejection as he had been earlier, Kaname understood his partner's patient hesitation for the loving, concerned gesture that it was. He gave a small nod, fingers caressing Zero's hair. He felt tense and a little uneasy, but his body was burning for Zero. He both wanted and needed to go through with this. "Yes," he murmured back. "Go on. I want you, Zero."

Zero hooked his thumbs in the waistband he was toying with and dragged it down slowly, revealing Kaname's perfect, creamy skin inch by inch. He slid down Kaname's stomach as he did so, kissing a line down the center of his ribs and stomach. By the time he had the pajamas down to Kaname's ankles, Zero was kneeling between his legs, pressing hot kisses against the base of his arousal.

Kaname felt incredibly exposed, but also very excited. He barely noticed Zero tugging his pants off the last bit of the way over his feet as the hunter's mouth slid up and down the underside of his length. The ex-human's soft lips applied a contradictorily firm pressure against his throbbing flesh. Zero discarded the pajamas and took Kaname fully into his mouth in one smooth motion, sucking him in deep and swallowing around him in a way he'd only recently started figuring out how to fully achieve.

"Aah!" Kaname's knees bent sharply on either side of his lover's head. One hand flew to clamp over his mouth, the other tangled in the sheets. That felt _amazing. _He and Zero had pleasured each other many times, but Zero seemed to be making a concerted effort to make this even more special than usual, and it was paying off rather nicely. Zero took Kaname's long shaft deeply, earnestly struggling to take it all the way to the base. Kaname felt the hunter's throat grip around him while Zero licked and sucked, literally swallowing him and tugging a pure, golden thread of ecstasy through the pureblood's quivering groin. Beautiful fire shocked through his swollen flesh and Kaname pressed the back of his hand more tightly against his mouth. It did little to stifle his moans, however, as Zero captured him completely and swallowed around him in slow, rippling motions.

Zero started bobbing his head up and down and Kaname writhed again. It felt so incredibly good he couldn't think of anything else. He could easily have come from the intense stimulation, but he didn't let himself. He didn't want to, not yet. There was something else he needed to do, and he feared if he lost the edge of crazy arousal that was thundering through him, he might be tempted to chicken out. He knew Zero would let him back out far too easily, and he needed to see this through.

Kaname couldn't take the incredible stimulation for too long and presently he leaned up on his elbows, half sitting. Reaching down he tugged at Zero's hair and shoulders, drawing the hunter back up his semi-reclining body. Hand fisted in Zero's hair, Kaname captured his lips hungrily, tasting his essence mixed with Zero. His wet, pulsing arousal dug into the ex-human's stomach, burning like the blazes for relief. Kaname groaned in soft frustration as his questing hands found Zero's still clothed butt and tugged at him.

Zero got the hint and quickly wriggled out of his boxers as he and Kaname traded light, abbreviated kisses. When hard, naked skin finally met with no obstruction, they both started feeling a little giddy. Kaname was still leaning up on his elbows and one of Zero's arms slid around his back, supporting him and holding him close while the hunter's other arm planted on the bed for support. He was still kneeling between Kaname's legs and he rocked his hungry body against Kaname's abdomen, their flesh touching, swords dueling and clashing in a most intoxicating manner.

"Do you want me, Kaname?" Zero panted in a desire-thick voice against the pureblood's shoulder. He knew very well what Kaname intended, but he didn't want his lover to think it had to be that way. There was no reason at all that Kaname couldn't take him if it made this encounter easier for the other vampire. "Believe me, it's _completely _fine..." he groaned, drawing back just enough for their eyes to meet so Kaname could see the truth of that written on his face. Giving or taking, either way was desirable as far as he was concerned right now.

Kaname could tell that Zero was serious and _would_ be equally happy making love or being made love too. He appreciated that. He didn't know that much about other people's relationships, but he couldn't help thinking it must be at least a little special to have found someone who could so perfectly suit all his needs and desires, no matter which way they happened to be swinging at the moment. Not to mention someone with such an amazing heart.

"I know," Kaname kissed Zero's ear, his hands on Zero's rear again, feeling the delicious way the hunter's round, toned muscles flexed as he pushed against him. His fingers caressed the sexy little dimples that formed just on the outer edge of the hunter's buttocks whenever Zero clenched or strained. He loved those dimples. He knew Zero's body so well, it was like a safe, familiar environment. It was like home to him. "I do want you, but I... I want you to take me," he whispered, kissing Zero's shoulder which only looked tanned in comparison to his even creamier skin. He'd meant that to sound a lot more firm and decided, but it ended up displaying his apprehension instead.

Zero cocked his head to the side, trying to get a look at Kaname. Kaname wasn't ready for that and he hid, kissing Zero's neck, teasing and nipping at him lightly with fangs that were still fully aroused from earlier.

"Kaname..." Zero's voice was incredibly gentle and Kaname felt he had no choice but to finally look up at him.

"Please, Zero," he pleaded. He felt kind of stupid and ashamed, but the request and his desire were sincere. _I need to do this. I really need to do this, _his eyes said clearly.

"Okay..." Zero said slowly, rocking more gently against Kaname's body. "As long as you know I'm good either way, okay? You don't have to do this for me," he whispered. After everything he'd seen, Zero didn't want Kaname to think that he would only be loved according to how well he subjected himself to someone else. That _wasn't_ love, not to Zero's mind.

Kaname nodded, ducking his head. His cheeks were burning again. He was aroused, scared and ashamed. Mostly ashamed of being scared, but there were other reasons too... it was complicated. "I know," he said again. "But I need to for _me_." The admission was barely a whisper. He needed to know he could do this. He needed Zero to know he could do it. Most of all, perhaps, he needed it to be only _Zero's _touch that he was feeling on his body... inside and out.

Zero accepted that answer. He still wasn't sure this was a great idea, but if Kaname needed to prove something to himself, he would try to be as good and as careful with him as he possibly could. Who knew? Maybe Kaname was right, maybe it was the only way the pureblood would stop being so afraid of Nasser coming between them. Right or wrong, Zero didn't really care, just so long as Kaname was happy and all right. He kissed Kaname's forehead and pulled the pureblood further upright until Kaname was on his knees, facing him. Zero left him there for a moment to retrieve lubricant from inside the nightstand.

Kaname was all right as long as Zero was holding him, but kneeling alone on the bed for those brief moments while knowing what was going to happen made his whole body flush and tremble and his stomach twist. It was hard to explain why he felt that way. He wasn't exactly afraid, at least not of anything tangible. He couldn't be scared of Zero, nor even of the act that they had done so many times. It wasn't that he didn't want to do this, because he _did_. He was heavily aroused and needed relief pretty bad. It was just hard for him to face his own vulnerability. Not because Zero was going to make love to him, but because he _wanted _Zero to do it so much his body was almost throbbing inside with anticipation.

_"Do you feel that, my little sweet? Are you burning for me? Show me how ready for me you are..." _Nasser's mocking voice invaded Kaname's head and he flinched, pressing his eyes closed and breathing harshly through his mouth. He felt shame twist sickeningly inside him, but this time it made him angry instead of hopeless. He clenched his fists at his sides. This was _not _the same. He was _not _going to let that bastard just barge into the middle of his and Zero's intimacy like this. Zero was right. Nasser was a lying asshole who had manipulated him, nothing more. Maybe his body _had _responded. Maybe it _had_ felt really good in a horrible way. But it was nothing like _this, _it never had was _nothing _like what he and Zero shared. _Nothing. _

Zero crawled back to Kaname and frowned slightly as he saw him kneeling very still, eyes and fists clenched. Gently, he knelt in front of him and pulled Kaname to him. He wasn't surprised and didn't take it personally when Kaname flinched. He stroked Kaname's back in soothing circles, kissing his neck. He knew better than to mention the obvious, so instead he just whispered how much he loved Kaname and murmured formless words of adoration against the pureblood's perspiration damp skin.

Kaname slowly molded into Zero's arms again, relaxing both because of the hunter's soothing actions and because Zero wasn't making a big deal out of his momentary freeze-up. He didn't want his lover to pull away or try to talk him out of this.

Zero drew Kaname forward onto his lap. Cupping Kaname's rear gently, he carefully settled the pureblood against him so Kaname was straddling his thighs. Kaname's still very prominent arousal pressed into Zero's abdomen again and their chests brushed. Kaname could feel Zero's erection curving up under him. It rested meaningfully, but un-threateningly flush against the valley of the pureblood's backside. Zero ran his hands slowly up and down Kaname's sides, trading soft, unhurried kisses with his lover as Kaname settled his arms around Zero's neck.

The pureblood's elbows rested on Zero's shoulders. He held left wrist with his right hand, completing the circle behind the hunter's head. Slowly, Kaname inched closer, finding greater friction for his aroused member and allowing his legs to slowly be spread more fully over Zero's body as he edged up almost flush with the other boy, his knees pressing into the mattress on either side of Zero's hips.

Kaname smelt the faint but distinct odor of scented lube when Zero opened the tube and a shiver ran through his body. Zero squeezed the gel into his hand and kissed Kaname slowly. He caressed the pureblood's thigh with the back of his knuckles, his non-lubed hand pressed flat against the small of Kaname's back, still rubbing reassuring little circles.

"Are you _sure_ you want to do this?" he murmured again, searching Kaname's eyes. A quick, earnest nod to the affirmative answered him. Zero kissed his lover's swollen lips softly. Slick fingers found the dip at the top of the pureblood's backside, just at the base of his spine and slid slowly downward from there. He traced a path between Kaname's toned cheeks, the tingly, "warming" lube allowing his fingertips to glide smoothly as they slipped beneath his lover's body.

Kaname inhaled sharply, his spread thighs quivering slightly at Zero's slow, meaningfully intimate caress. The gel left a pleasant sensation on his skin, but Zero's fingers themselves were what made the trail feel enticingly fiery. Kaname groaned and leaned forward more heavily against Zero, the sides of their heads brushing. He felt the cool metal of Zero's earrings against his cheek.

"Are you afraid?" Zero whispered softly against his ear. Only then did Kaname realize he was trembling like a leaf.

It would have been easy to lie, but it wouldn't have been right. He needed to trust Zero. He _did_ trust Zero. "Will you promise not to stop if I say yes?" he whispered back hoarsely.

Zero could tell something important was happening. Kaname could have covered up or tried to control the outcome by saying whatever he thought he needed to say, but he hadn't. He was being honest about how he felt and what he wanted. Zero liked that, and he knew he needed to meet his lover half way. "Is that a yes?" he asked with a tender little smile, nibbling Kaname's ear.

"Is that a promise?" Kaname returned, and Zero could hear the hesitant smile in his voice as well.

By way of answer, Zero's fingers finished their downward journey, finding the tight little ring of muscle which guarded Kaname's entrance and stroking it sensually with his slick middle finger. "I promise not to stop as long as you don't _want _me to stop," he said quietly. He drew his head back a little so he could meet his lover's gaze. "But if you do, just say so. Honest, Kaname, it will be okay. I won't be upset or disappointed or anything. I'll always stop if you tell me to," he promised.

Zero's first and middle finger were now caressing and teasing the sensitive rim of flesh and Kaname relaxed a little more against him, his breath shuddering lightly against Zero's chest. "I know you would," he murmured with a soft smile. "I feel very safe with you, Zero," he assured, wanting the hunter to know that so he wouldn't worry as much. He realized he was asking a lot of Zero, wanting him to do this when the hunter was probably feeling at least partially as traumatized as he was by what he'd experienced through Kaname's mind.

Zero's fingers caressed a little more intensely, spreading the lube around and tugging slowly at the edges of the opening, gradually urging Kaname's muscles to relax. He was not going to rush this and Kaname wasn't fighting him on the pace for once, so he took his time, applying more lube and rocking Kaname's hard body steadily against him as he rubbed and massaged his tense entrance.

The teasing was almost unbearable and Kaname shivered harder, but he let Zero do things his way. His whole body was alight now with a slow, consuming fire. Kaname was so stimulated that by the time Zero finally slipped his slick middle finger inside his body it felt like a jolt of sheer bliss and his stomach clenched. He doubled forward, face pressing against Zero's shoulder as the long, slender digit pushed deeper, slowly working its way in all the way to the last knuckle. Zero was being meticulously careful and there was no pain, only pleasurable stimulation and the intense desire for _more. _

Kaname groaned softly, burying his face against Zero's neck and rocking a little more desperately against his stomach as the hunter thrust his finger slowly in and out, going back for more lube several times until there was practically no friction at all in the easy, gliding motions. Then Zero carefully added a second finger, increasing the stretch and the pleasure.

"Zero... enough, I'm ready..." Kaname all but begged as those two slick fingers continued to push in and out of his body for what seemed like forever, tantalizing him, teasing him, lightly stroking the sensitive nerves that were begging for much firmer stimulation. Zero's fingers plunged deep, but they couldn't go deep enough to hit the spot Kaname _really _wanted touched.

"We'll get there, be patient," Zero murmured back. He was going to make sure Kaname was very good and ready first. He would not risk hurting him for even a moment, even though his own need was also pretty sharp. His body throbbed hotly where it was trapped under his lover. Kaname was damn irresistible when he was squirming in pleasure and pleading to be filled.

Kaname did as he was told, holding onto Zero's neck and whimpering in pleasure and agitated need as Zero continued to prep him thoroughly. He had to admit, it was incredibly arousing and erotic. Zero went back for yet more lube and Kaname gave an amused scowl against his neck. "Do you intend to use the whole tube?"

Zero grinned and finally added a third finger, plunging all three as far as they could go inside the very well slicked passage. Kaname groaned sharply in bliss, practically crawling up his body. Zero's other hand stayed splayed over the small of the pureblood's back as his fingers worked him, keeping Kaname's hips anchored.

"If I want to, maybe. _Relax... _this isn't a race," he teased, fingers thrusting firmly and twisting carefully inside the tight passage, finding the right places to make Kaname gasp and squirm even harder. He kissed the side of Kaname's neck and his shoulder. "I want to do this right," he murmured honestly. "I want this to feel _so_ good for you."

Kaname understood, and the truth was Zero was doing a great job of exactly that. He spent many long, exquisite minutes caressing and stroking. The pureblood felt lost in a sea of slow, passionate ecstasy as he straddled the hunter's lap, Zero's fingers thrusting slowly in and out of his body. It was almost impossible to be afraid when he now felt so delectably impatient instead.

When Zero finally felt he had prepared Kaname well enough, he removed his fingers and dropped his hand down to briefly apply the gel to his own body. It felt cool and yet hot against his skin and he hissed softly through his teeth. He was so ready he could hardly stand it. Cupping Kaname's backside, Zero shifted, lifting him and then and guiding him back down. Kaname quickly understood what was happening and was only too happy to assist, balancing his arms on Zero's shoulders and bracing his knees as Zero guided the pureblood down carefully onto his waiting length.

Kaname felt the warm, slightly mushroom shaped head of Zero's body push into his slick passage with a slight popping sensation, stretching him significantly more than Zero's fingers could.

_"Annhhhh..." _he moaned softly. It felt so good after all the sweetly torturous buildup that Kaname's thighs shook. Blood pounded in his ears and his head fell back. His long, raven hair clung slightly to his naked, perspiration damp shoulders and neck. He would have pushed down faster, but Zero held his backside tightly, guiding the pace at which their bodies merged as Kaname slid down onto him in one slow but continuous motion.

Zero panted softly. The tight, wet heat was intensely pleasurable, as was the visage of Kaname with his head thrown back, expression lost in delight. Zero's arousal was thickly swollen with desire, but Kaname was well prepared and he sank down easily onto the hunter. Kaname felt every inch as it entered, sliding along his insides, stretching him beautifully and finally penetrating far enough to press firmly against the nerve-rich area deep inside which had been begging for attention.

"Hhhaa..." he gasped again, sharply, fists clenching behind Zero's neck as fireworks touched off in his gut, pleasure shocking through him as Zero took him to full depth, the end of his length pressing exactly where it felt the best. Zero gripped his rear tighter with a soft groan, spreading the pureblood even more and pulling him down harder at the same time. Pressing Kaname's entrance flush with his hips, he gave him everything. The pressing motion was delicious and Kaname convulsed again, holding onto him tightly as he throbbed deliciously around his lover's thickness.

Kaname bit his lower lip, sensation burning and tingling through his nerves as he settled his knees more fully on either side of Zero's hips, holding onto his lover's shoulders and trying to brace himself for what was coming. He was keenly aware of the hard body between his legs. It felt good to hold Zero so deeply, it felt good to be this close to him, there was no reason to be nervous... at least, no logical one. He had been too worked up to feel apprehensive when Zero initially claimed him. Now, his brain seemed to catch up with his body and a horde of butterflies took flight in his stomach, tangling up with the molten tendrils of arousal that were already there. It was a meaningless reaction that he _knew _had nothing to do with the present situation or the wonderful man he was with, so Kaname tried hard to just ignore it. One damp palm caressed the back of Zero's muscular shoulders while the other hung on tightly. He could do this. It was going to be fine. He would accept no other outcome.

Zero's chest trembled in rapture. He wrapped his arms tightly around Kaname's waist and just held onto him for a moment, burying his face against his lover's chest. He sobbed softly for breath, struggling for both air and control. It was not an exaggeration to say that Kaname was the most incredible thing he had ever felt. The impulse to just start plowing urgently into that beautiful friction was intense, but he didn't want to forget himself in the moment and lose sight of the fact that he needed to be very careful and attuned to Kaname's comfort levels right now. Besides, if he didn't pace himself, he wasn't going to last too long given the way he was feeling.

Kaname was a bit surprised when Zero did not start moving right away and his death grip on the hunter's shoulder relaxed a little. He could feel the tension of need knotted in Zero's muscles and hear it in the hunter's ragged breaths. Zero obviously wanted this very badly, so much so that it was almost physically painful, but he was waiting, struggling to take things slowly. He clung to Kaname like a drowning man - arms locked tight about his waist, hands splayed on the small of his back, pressing his feverish forehead against the pureblood's heart.

Kaname looked down at where the silver head was pressed against his chest, feeling Zero's warm, desperate little gasps against his skin, and suddenly the fear that had been trying to build in him simply vanished. It was impossible to feel truly apprehensive when you were with someone who obviously loved you so much. Kaname wrapped his arms lightly around Zero's head, cradling the hunter and stroking his hair tenderly. "Zero...?" He hesitantly rocked his hips against his lover as he whispered his name.

Zero gave a small, choked groan, fire raking down his length and quaking through his groin. He held onto Kaname's waist tighter, the motion an obvious plea for him to not move. He was too aroused, he needed a moment to compose himself. "Sorry..." the hunter gasped softly, feeling rather stupid. "Just give me a minute."

Kaname gave a small, warm smile, dipping his head to kiss Zero's hair. The ex-human was so intensely precious to him. Relaxing more by the moment and starting to feel more eager than nervous once again, Kaname brushed stray strands of hair behind his lover's ears, making a couple of Zero's earrings jangle soundlessly against one another.

Drawing in a deep, steadying breath, Kaname leaned forward a little further. "Have I ever told you... that I like the way you feel inside me?" he murmured into Zero's ear. The words came tentatively and they made him feel self-conscious again, but he _wanted _to say them. He wanted to say them because no one was _making _him say them. He wanted to say them to _Zero _just because they were true.

Zero moaned plaintively against his chest and arousal pooled even heavier in Kaname's flesh as he felt the hunter tremble and twitch in response. "Not helping, Kaname," Zero complained breathlessly. He tilted his head up towards his lover, his deep violet eyes clouded with desire. He freed one hand to tangle in Kaname's hair, pulling the pureblood's head down until he could capture his lips in a kiss.

Kaname allowed himself to get lost in the sensation, savoring the way their tongues teased and thrust into one another in the way that their firmly joined bodies weren't. He felt helplessly heavy and desperately hard where he was trapped snuggly against Zero's stomach, but it was a sweet kind of desperation. If it had been up to him, he probably would have pushed himself too hard and too fast, feeling the need to ram through his uncertainties no matter how uncomfortable or difficult it was for him emotionally. However, Zero wasn't letting him do that to himself. The ex-human was being so incredibly sweet and so erotically, almost maddeningly gradual about everything that Kaname was finding he didn't have to _pretend _he was okay, because he really _was _okay.

Eventually, Zero began to rock his hips slowly upwards, his knees sliding a little farther apart on the bed to facilitate the motion. Kaname groaned into their kiss as Zero's firm body finally started moving within him. They remained closely joined, Zero's thrusts small but deep as he rocked back and forth in the slick passage, sensually massaging his lover.

_"Ah... Ahh..."_ Kaname couldn't help the small, almost soundless moans that rumbled in his throat as Zero's firm, swollen head pressed firmly into the deliciously sensitive area it was resting against over and over again. His knees gripped Zero's hips more tightly, toes pressing into the bed as he rocked down against his lover, meeting his rhythm. Their bodies swayed in unison, both of them giving and receiving pleasure through the sensual joining.

Eventually Kaname broke their kiss, his head hanging slightly as he gasped softly for air, his muscles rippling and tensing. His arms were looped around Zero's neck again, elbows resting on the hunter's shoulders.

Zero's breath continued to shudder softly in his chest. Kaname's agile body moving sinuously against him was intensely arousing. His own movements slowed a bit and he let Kaname set the pace at which he was comfortable, his hands cupping and caressing the pureblood's bobbing backside. The pureblood unconsciously bit his lower lip as he rocked up and down against his lover, focusing on the sensations churning through him with what Zero thought was an erotically adorable look of concentration.

Kaname's body was alive with bliss and he started to thrust down harder, wrapping himself further around his lover. When he realized that Zero was all but still, holding his lover tenderly and letting Kaname pursue his own pleasure, the pureblood felt his skin heat. There wasn't anything unusual about it, in fact it was very sweet that Zero was focusing so much on his partner's enjoyment. But Kaname still had issues with the expression of his own desires. He dropped his face to Zero's shoulder, trying to still his soft, urgent little motions, but he couldn't stop, he was too damn aroused.

Zero was quickly learning that when Kaname hid against him like this, it was an unconscious signal that something was making him feel ashamed. He wrapped his arms around Kaname's back, softly increasing his own motions as his lover backed off uncertainly, keeping the pace even. He sucked softly on the exposed side of Kaname's neck and felt his lover shudder against him, their mutual pace starting to increase fervently.

"I love you, Kaname," Zero whispered against his neck, his breathing uneven as their bodies strained together. He wasn't one to repeat those words mindlessly, or with too great a frequency, but he knew deep in his heart that tonight, Kaname needed to hear them and hear them often. He wanted Kaname to know that there was an entire world of difference between being used, and being loved.

Kaname hesitantly lifted his head again, his hands cupping Zero's face as they moved up and down together. There was a soft, aching wonder in his eyes that lit a radiant tightness in Zero's chest. "I love you too, Zero," he whispered back.

There was still a shadow in Kaname's gaze, but it was outshone by an abundance of love and trust. Zero realized that the hint of pain was actually quite familiar. It was something he had seen in Kaname's eyes so many times and not known why. So often over the past few years, he had ached to be able to erase or at least sooth the invisible scars he could glimpse in his lover, but he had not been able to comprehend from whence they came. He remembered when the flood some years back had left Kaname with temporary, but terrible scars because he'd had half his power tied to the unconscious hunter. Kaname had feared those imperfections would repulse him, and Zero had seen in his eyes even back then that there were other, non-physical scars that Kaname feared to show him even more. Now, Zero finally understood and there was a kind of freedom in that. He was finally able to try to reach to the actual root of that pain inside his lover. He didn't know if he could love these scars away with time, but he would still gladly spend the rest of his life trying.

Zero kissed Kaname, softly at first, then with increasing urgency as the passion spiraling between them slowly drove their hips faster and faster. Zero's thighs began to knot and cramp from the slight difficulty of the position, making it hard to keep an even pace with his lover. Cradling Kaname's head in one hand and supporting his back with the other, he shifted them. Leaning forward he laid Kaname on his back and followed him down to the bed in a breathless, controlled topple.

Kaname was relieved to feel no fear as he tumbled to the mattress and felt Zero's weight settled over him, pinning him down comfortably. All he felt was desire. Their bodies were still joined and the pureblood's knees quickly hugged Zero's hips, ankles crossing behind his lover's back as he held onto him. He keened softly at the increased stimulation as Zero was now able to move much more freely, the urgency of their joining escalating.

Kaname leaned up a little, kissing and nipping Zero's nipples. The pureblood's lover's fangs were still fully aroused and couldn't help pricking and grazing the puckered, velvety skin lightly. Zero shivered and pressed into him more firmly, dropping his head with a soft hiss and supporting himself on the bed with both hands. Kaname bit the firm flesh of Zero's breast very, very gently, fangs sliding into his skin as soft as a kiss. He bit just on the outer rim of the nipple, his tongue pleasuring the hardened little bud at the same time. Zero's fingers curled tightly in the sheets and his breath shuddered at the sweet, sharp prick of pleasure. It should hurt, but it didn't. Kaname had always been overly enamored of his nipples and Zero was used to being bitten there. Like his neck, the repeated penetration actually seemed to make the area even more sensitive.

He all but whimpered as Kaname's tongue intensely molested the moist bud while his fangs remained deep in the hunter's flesh, drawing slow, sensual sips of blood from him. The drawing sensation itself was delicious. Coupled with the way it was being done, it made Zero's gut tense and flip, his arousal burning and jerking within Kaname's body. He thrust down with more urgency, pushing between Kaname's legs with small gasps of delight as an electric connection seemed to form between Kaname's sharp teeth penetrating his skin and his thick, aching flesh penetrating Kaname's body.

The moist friction of his lover's body gripping around him each time he moved and Kaname's fangs rocking inside his flesh with the force of those same motions nearly made him lose it and Zero's pants turned into audible groans. One hand remained planted on the bed to support his weight, the other slid between their bodies to grip Kaname's aching flesh.

Kaname reeled in bliss as Zero's wonderfully firm motions pushed him in and out of the hunter's fist. He savored the taste of his lover's blood, the closeness it created and the access it gave him to the ex-human's feelings. Blood didn't lie, and he could taste Zero's love, his pleasure and desire within the coppery crimson nectar. He could feel that at least in this moment, nothing truly had changed between them.

Kaname finally released Zero's nipple and licked the punctures away with trembling lips. Zero felt a bone deep shudder curl through him each time he thrust home and felt Kaname's breath hiss against his skin in an ecstatic whimper. Kaname's hands tangled in his lover's silver hair, tugging Zero's mouth to his neck in a clear indication of what he desired.

Zero bit him gently, fangs and body penetrating his lover at the same time and Kaname cried out softly, his body twisting on the bed in beautiful desperation. Zero felt himself rushing towards an inevitable peak as Kaname's taste flooded through him again. He shifted his shoulder, intentionally presenting the side of his throat to his lover while he leaned over him, his fangs still deep in Kaname's neck. He wanted Kaname to bite him back.

Kaname turned his head, his eyes pressing shut with a moan as his fangs slid tenderly into Zero's willing flesh. He knew how precious it was that Zero could actually _want _to be bitten by him after what he had suffered. Perhaps it was no surprise then, that he himself could want so much for Zero to make love to him, even after what he had been through. Somehow, at this moment, those things which had happened to them before didn't seem at all important. In these blissful moments before the end, when pleasure blossomed in Kaname's gut and spun outward like an unwinding shockwave through his thighs, tightening his flesh as it burned in pulsing waves through his aroused body... nothing at all mattered except the present. Nothing mattered except the wonderful boy with whom he had fallen in love.

The intense pleasure of mutual blood sharing flowed through their already severely aroused bodies like an electric current. Both hunter and pureblood groaned against one another's skin, fangs holding on tightly in a way that was ironically incredibly tender, like an amazingly deep and intimate kiss. Their bodies flexed and thrust wildly against one another, the connection formed between them by their co-mingled blood ensuring that orgasm slammed ruthlessly into both of them at precisely the same moment.

Kaname's arms tightened around Zero's back, his taught body pressing up hard against his lover as pleasure melted his world and coated Zero's hand and stomach. He cried out against Zero's neck and realized he felt the shivering, buzzing sensation of Zero doing the same thing, his lover's voice vibrating against his skin.

Zero's body jerked, fire shooting in spasms through his length as he emptied himself into his lover, Kaname's beautiful cries reverberating through his whole being.

He collapsed softly onto Kaname's heaving chest, his body trembling, hips still moving lightly of their own volition, seeking the comforting, familiar grip of his lover's body to sooth the beautifully agonized little shocks of pleasure still tingling through him like random pin pricks and star bursts.

Kaname's breath shuddered unsteadily against Zero's skin as he licked, kissed, and continued to drink from his lover slowly. His fangs moved slightly within Zero's skin, his breath catching softly as the hunter soothingly stroked and caressed the spent flesh still in his grip between their bodies, his fingers now both slick and sticky from his lover's seed.

For a long time they remained like that, rocking together in slow, exhausted, sated motions and tenderly co-mingling their blood in a sweet, complete intimacy that was only possible for those of their race. The mutual blood sharing, following on the heels of their intense orgasm and their equally intense physical exhaustion after the long night's events left them both feeling pleasantly light headed and content.

After a while they kissed and licked the punctures on one another's necks closed and switched to kissing instead, the taste of one another's blood sweetly flavoring the contented, unhurried exploration of one another's mouths.

Kaname knew he had so much to do, so much to plan and try to figure out. Nasser had very effectively thrown him way off his center with this re-emergence from the past and he was going to have to fight to not let it affect his ability to strategize. There was still a battle to win, although thinking about all that right now was fit to tie his stomach up in knots.

The pureblood sighed softly and let Zero's warm, soothing lips, the comfortable weight of his body and the light caress of his gentle touches ease away those cares for the time being. There was nothing he could do right this moment. He was physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted and was not up to trying to plan anything. He needed to rest first and then start working on a new attack plan.

Lying here with Zero, wrapped in the hunter's gentle love, feeling comfortably sated and weary, Kaname thought for the first time tonight that he might just be able to rest for a little while after all. Sleep started to tug at him ever more seductively and his motions began to slow.

Zero saw Kaname's eyelids beginning to droop and knew his lover was finally relaxed enough to let the exhaustion he felt have its way. He started to reach for the covers, but Kaname's eyes quickly fluttered open again, his arms tightening as if he was afraid of losing this moment, or of letting go. Zero quickly returned his attention to the pureblood, kissing and touching him tenderly until the dark chocolate eyes started to glaze with comfortable weariness again.

So as not to disturb the peace he could see settling over his lover, Zero kept his place atop Kaname this time and carefully let several vines grow outward and curl around the edge of the covers instead. Zero did not usually use his abilities in a casual manner. Kaname often used his that way, but for him they were a natural extension of his body that he had always possessed. While Zero was now very comfortable with and in control of his power, it was not something he had grown up with. His vines would respond instinctively to danger, but it was not yet second nature for him to use them for trivial matters. It certainly could come in handy sometimes though, like now. Zero was able to maintain his soothing focus on Kaname and still carefully ease the covers out from underneath them. He pulled the soft sheets and quilt up over their cooling bodies without having to move his hands.

Kaname seemed to relax even more as the warmth of their body heat between the covers seeped slowly into him. His dark eyes closed, his long black eyelashes brushing his pale cheeks. Zero knew they needed to wash, but right now it was more important for Kaname to be able to rest while he could. Zero gently pulled out of his lover's body and tried to roll off him, but the pureblood didn't like that. He whimpered and clung to Zero, caught partway between sleeping and waking and knowing only that he didn't want to lose contact with his lover.

Zero smiled wryly. Attempting to give Kaname want he wanted while still moving them to a more comfortable position, Zero carefully rolled onto his back, keeping Kaname with him so the pureblood ended up resting on top of his chest. Zero scooted them both up the bed until his head found the pillows. He settled Kaname more comfortably atop him, letting the pureblood keep the connection he seemed to want while trying to make sure his lover didn't have to feel at all trapped or uncomfortable. He didn't want Kaname waking up later and having any moments of panic about not knowing who was on top of him. Maybe he was over thinking things, but this way just felt safer to the hunter.

Stirred a little by the change in position, Kaname blinked owlishly down at his lover. He leaned up, kissing Zero's mouth sleepily, his touch gentle and sweet, his head bobbing a bit unsteadily as he struggled to hold it up. Zero captured Kaname's weary head between his hands and supported him, kissing him back tenderly before carefully guiding his lover's head back down to rest on his chest.

"Mmmm..." Kaname sighed softly in contentment as he heard Zero's heartbeat under his ear and felt the steady rise and fall of his breathing. It was intensely comforting. In his exhausted and half-asleep state, nothing could have felt better to the pureblood than to be lying on top of his lover like this, his whole body contentedly registering the hunter's presence. He burrowed into the soft cotton sheets with relaxed satisfaction as the hunter's arms slid around his back. Their bodies were like two halves of a puzzle that fit perfectly.

Zero rested one hand on his lover's back, feeling the rise and fall of Kaname's breathing. His other hand caressed his lover's hair, his own deep exhaustion making the movements slow and soft. Kaname wasn't the only one who was thoroughly worn out.

"You know... what?" Kaname murmured. His voice was slurred with the slow onset of sleep.

"Hm?" Zero murmured, still stroking Kaname's hair with tired, adoring fingers. It felt so right to hold him, and the hunter knew he would never lose the soft touch of awe that warmed him every time he found himself realizing that Kaname was his to hold and cherish forever.

"That first time... in the warehouse..." Sleep was acting a bit like alcohol, freeing Kaname's tongue, but he hesitated, waking enough to realize he probably shouldn't be bringing this up in such a peaceful moment. Zero's hand slid reassuringly down to his shoulder and gave him an encouraging squeeze, letting him know it was okay if there was something he wanted or needed to say. At this moment, nothing could ruin the comfortable peace resting upon them.

Kaname seemed to feel that too and he relaxed once more. "That first time I was with you... I'd never felt that way before, truly." There had been much the pureblood hadn't remembered about his past at that time, but even the bit he had recalled hadn't crossed his mind, not in the heat of that moment. Everything had felt new, and that was somehow precious to Kaname now. He wasn't sure he could explain what he meant and he didn't try. He just wanted Zero to know that there had always been something unique between them.

"I didn't even know I loved you yet, but you were all I could think about," he murmured with a sleepy little smile, turning his head just enough to place a small kiss over Zero's heart. Kaname knew that a big part of that had been because of their newly formed bond and the trauma of his broken one with Ichiou. He'd been half crazy with need, but he was glad for it now, because it meant that even though they hadn't been as emotionally connected then as they became later, he had still been as focused on Zero as the hunter deserved. Even now, with his recovered memories, the truth remained that Zero was still the first person to whom _Kaname_ had ever made love.

Zero smiled quietly, his palm moving lightly against Kaname's back. What Kaname said did mean a lot to him, especially because he could tell that his lover found a certain measure of much needed consolation in those facts.

"Same here," Zero whispered back. As his brain wandered the meandering paths leading towards slumber, he couldn't help thinking that at least sometimes, the bad things in their lives had actually lead to something good. He and Kaname would probably never have realized they could love one another without the mess that Ichiou and Rido had created, or if Zero had never been turned in the first place. It was nice in a way, to think that goodness could come even out of evil. It made him believe that somehow they could turn even the mess they were in now into something good, somehow. Not sure how to put that into words and too tired to try, Zero lightly brushed Kaname's mind with the thought instead, sharing it with him silently.

As sleep slowly pulled him under, Kaname smiled against Zero's chest and the hunter felt that his lover agreed. Kaname's light mental touch was like a last, lingering kiss that stayed with Zero as he too started to drift toward slumber.


	23. Troubling Convergence

_A/N: I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update, life has been giving me a lot of grief lately. :P But here we are at last! Diving back into the plot as promised, this chapter follows a number of different threads that are happening at more or less the same time in different places, hopefully it won't be confusing. Also, a bit of a cliffie in here *cough* sorry about that *hides*. F__orgive the incredibly vague and fuzzy pseudo-science and tech references in this chapter. Sorry if there's anything off there, I'm too tired to check up on the technical believability factor, mea culpa. _

_Don't be put off if some of what is happening doesn't seem to make sense, that is by design. It will all come together in a little while when the big picture finally starts to take shape. Review responses are in my form, link on my bio as usual. :)_

**Chapter Twenty-Three: "Troubling Convergence"**

Bathed in the slightly bluish glow cast by the computer screen, a blond head bobbed absently to the beat of a particularly energetic guitar riff playing on the room's state of art sound system. Aido was only half-aware of the music as he navigated his way through a number of different screens, alternately opening and minimizing various windows as he multi-tasked with a pattern that would have seemed maddeningly random to anyone else, but made perfect sense to him. The music he used as a backdrop to his work often reflected his mood, and at the moment the agitated, restless beat was indeed was a rather good mirror to his state of mind. For some reason, that made it easier for him to concentrate.

Aido snuffled softly, reaching for a tissue in disgust and using it to blow his nose before wadding it and tossing it at the overflowing waste bin next to him. He was feverish, his head ached, his bones ached, his stomach hurt and he felt tired and congested. This being sick business was _so _irritating. Humans could definitely keep it as far as he was concerned. He felt like he was dying or something, but when he looked up his symptoms in a human medical reference book it had suggested he might have the flu, which was apparently a 'normal' human malady that could be contracted repeatedly. He couldn't even imagine the idea of being randomly subjected to something like this over and over. _It must be hell to be human._

He knew he should be grateful that the virus running rampant through his system had not yet done anything more serious to him than make him a little sick, but at the same time he certainly didn't want to imagine spending the rest of his life feeling like this either. Provided of course, that things didn't get worse... which they probably would.

Slumped in his desk chair in his pajamas and focused on his computer, he was not aware that Kain had entered the room until the music abruptly shut off.

"Hey!" Aido turned in his chair and cast his cousin a glare.

Kain's auburn hair was tousled, his pajamas slightly rumpled and his eyes both heavy with sleep and cranky with having that sleep disturbed. "It's freaking three in the afternoon, Aido, keep it down can't you?" the taller vampire grumbled pointedly.

Since it was intended for vampire ears, the volume had actually been fairly low by human standards, but for a vampire it was rather loud, if not quite blasting.

Aido rose, reaching over and turning the music back on defiantly. "It helps me think. Wear ear plugs if you don't like it, or go back to your place. I didn't ask you to sleep over."

Kain turned the music off again. "Go to bed, Hanabusa. This will all be here tomorrow. You shouldn't push yourself like this."

Aido turned it back on again. "Quit mothering me, we're not kids anymore."

"Could have fooled me." Kain reached for the knob again in exasperation and Aido moved to block him, which resulted in the two of them slapping each other's hands back and forth for a few moments, fighting for control of the volume.

Aido gave up in disgust and sat back down. He rubbed the bridge of his nose wearily and Kain could see the weight of tiredness and silent fear hanging on him that his cousin tried unsuccessfully to hide. Aido was scared, and Kain didn't blame him. He would be pretty freaked out too if he had some unknown disease coursing through his veins. Despite the fact that Aido was usually a world class whiner capable of spinning a hangnail into a life threatening injury, he was being remarkably stoic and self-contained about what he was going through now. That actually worried Kain. A lot.

"I can't sleep," Aido admitted with a quiet sigh. If he lay down, his thoughts would just keep spinning and spinning. The virus growing and changing inside him filled his thoughts too much if he didn't keep himself occupied. He knew he'd get no rest until he was physically exhausted enough for his mind to shut down, so he might as well make the most of the time.

"But, I did find something interesting." He gestured towards the nearby microscope. It wasn't as powerful as the one at his lab, but it served fine for the purpose of testing his own blood, which was something he had taken to doing every few hours now. His behavior was bordering on obsessive, but he could perhaps be forgiven.

"It's not visible in the original strain, but my latest blood work shows that there's a quirk in the protein structure of the..." Aido caught himself, knowing that although Kain probably _could _follow him he wouldn't really get the importance of the discovery without being told a lot of additional detail. Aido didn't have the patience for long explanations at the moment and it likely would have only put his cousin right back to sleep at any rate. "Anyway, it could be significant. I want to talk to Naija about it," he finished thoughtfully instead.

"_Naija_, huh?" Kain said with meaningful smile, leaning one broad shoulder against the wall beside Aido's desk. "Her, particularly, not the other scientists?"

Aido scowled. "Well... them too eventually, but Dr. Kish is the smart one. She and I have done most of the significant mapping of the virus thus far."

"Uh huh. And she's pretty. Right?" Kain knew his cousin far too well. He also knew how to distract him and lighten his mood.

Aido grinned in the familiar, conspiratorial manner often shared by those of the male gender when discussing the opposite sex. "_Very_ pretty, and she tastes _really _good," his smile was a little dreamy. He knew it was how he'd gotten infected, but it hadn't been her fault and at least it was a very nice memory. She'd probably slap him if she heard him talking about her that way. Of course, he might like that. "You know, I ought to look into whether two already infected people pose any kind of further risk to one another..." he added absently.

Kain chuckled and rolled his eyes. His cousin was an incorrigible playboy, but it was kind of good to see that glimmer of his normal self again. "God, Hanabusa, I hope you can actually find _time_ to study the virus around trying to think of ways to get up the nearest pretty skirt."

Aido shot him an only mildly reproachful glare. "She doesn't usually wear skirts, and I can multi-task quite well, thank you." Unconsciously proving that point, Aido was absently browsing through one of the open windows on his screen as he talked.

Kain chuckled and shoved away from the wall. "Yeah, I bet you can. Maybe just for today, you can do it with the music turned down a little, huh?"

"Mm," Aido responded distractedly, indicating that he'd already stopped paying attention to their conversation in favor of what he was looking at on the screen. "Hey, this is interesting..." a short flurry of clicks later, he looked back up towards Kain again and pointed at something on the computer display.

"I thought the four of us were the first of Sato-sama's scientists on the scene in An'swala to investigate the plague, but maybe not. According to these supply logs there was some kind of activity that ties back to Sato Labs going on before we got there, and before the epidemic started. Even if it was unrelated study, maybe there's a chance they have some more reliable records pertaining to the early stages of the outbreak. We never were able to get much useful information on that from the locals and it could be really important, especially if I'm right about what the protein marker means..." Aido clucked his tongue thoughtfully as he saved down the files he was looking over. "I wonder why no one bothered to tell me about this?"

Kain's brows furrowed and he shifted around behind Aido, looking at the screen over his shoulder and suddenly wondering why Aido was looking at supply logs. His brows quickly reversed course and shot upwards when he saw that Aido wasn't viewing his own desktop, but instead seemed to be remotely inside some other computer's control panel. Everything he was looking at was tagged as the confidential property of Sato Laboratories.

"Hanabusa, why are you messing around on Sato-sama's secure corporate servers?"

Aido shrugged carelessly. "Not _that _secure. Their encryption isn't strong enough, obviously. Or I'm just that good." He grinned. Actually, there were plenty of places he couldn't get to because the security _was _too good, but he didn't feel the need to tell Kain that. He'd originally just wanted to hack access to some of the data he and Naija had been working on without having to go all the way to his lab to use the authorized data terminal there. His home computer wasn't on the same network and he didn't feel like driving across town in the middle of the day just to legally access the system. He'd not actually gotten what he wanted, but it ended up amusing and distracting him a little to see where he _could _get, and how deeply he could go without being detected.

Kain rolled his eyes again. "Right, well, when Sato-sama's goons come knocking at your door to drag you away, I'm going to say I don't know you, okay?"

"Mm," Aido returned distractedly again, obviously more interested in his latest find than the possibility that his hacking could get him in any kind of trouble. "Whatever. I'm going to ask Naija about this too. She runs a lot of Diachi-sama's operations, maybe she knows if there's any useful intel from those earlier operations." Although he'd not known it when they first started working together since Naija did not mix science and politics, he'd come to realize more recently that she held much the same position in Diachi Sato's inner circle that Takuma held in Kaname's... or would, if Takuma didn't have his own Syndeo to run now.

Aido picked up his phone and dialed from memory. Kain looked at him like he was crazy. "You're calling her at this hour? Damn, Aido, women must see something in you that I don't to put up with your thoughtlessness."

Aido waved his free hand dismissively. "She's in a different time zone, Akatsuki..." he started to explain and then froze. _Oh shit! _She _had _been in a different time zone, but just yesterday he'd been told that Diachi was flying in all three of his scientists from the An'swala mission and transferring them to his lab in this country. Ostensibly, it was so it would be easier to coordinate Sato and Kuran's joint effort to look deeper into this disturbing new malady, but Aido rather suspected that it was really because Diachi wanted to keep the infected vampires closer to his own home base so he could be sure they didn't spread what they had. Even though Aido was the only one who was actually experiencing any ill results from the infection, they all no doubt felt somewhat like lepers.

The lab was far to the north, deep in Sato territory and farther away from the extremely fuzzy geographical border between the Sato and Kuran Syndeos. It was a good plane flight away from where Aido lived, but it was a lot closer than Europe and was definitely in the same time zone. If Naija had already arrived, then he was in fact calling her in the middle of her sleep cycle.

Aido was about to hang up when she answered the phone.

"Oh! Um... hey..." Aido stumbled over his words in surprise and embarrassment. "Where are you? I mean, not that I have to know where you are, but if you're in the same time zone as me, then I'm sorry for calling so late. I didn't mean to wake you; I forgot that you might not be there. I mean here. I mean..." He screwed his eyes shut and winced at the way he was babbling. Something about the woman made him act like a bumbling little boy. It was very frustrating and Kain looked supremely amused which only annoyed Aido more.

_"You got it bad..." _Kain mouthed at him with a devilish grin.

The blonde grabbed the nearest book on his desk and threw it at his cousin. It made him feel mildly better, although Kain dodged and was now chuckling silently.

"Hi Aido," Naija responded, the amused smile evident in her voice. "It's all right. I only got in yesterday. I haven't really adjusted to the time change yet. I feel like a human," she joked. "But you didn't wake me, I was up unpacking anyway... what's that?" she asked as the book Aido had thrown collided with the wall.

"Nothing," Aido said lightly, while frowning and gesticulating strongly to indicate that Kain should go away and leave him to talk to Naija alone.

Kain took the hint and withdrew, still grinning knowingly.

"So... why are you calling?" Naija prompted.

"Are you near a computer?" Aido asked, cradling the phone between ear and shoulder as he turned back to his own workstation. "I'm emailing you a file I want you to look at. I found something interesting in part of the virus' protein structure. I want to see if it makes you think what it's making me think..."

* * *

Zero started, not knowing what had woken him for a moment. Kaname's warm body in his arms was tense and he wasn't sure which of them had jerked. It took several long moments before his brain sorted out the harsh jangling sound which had disturbed their slumber and was able to recognize it as his own cell phone ringing.

He groaned, rubbing his face and struggling desperately to pry open sleep-crusted eyelids. His eyes felt like sandpaper and he knew he mustn't have been asleep for very long. The phone was still ringing, much too loud and grating in the dark stillness. He cursed himself for not turning it off or turning down the ringer, although he had had other things on his mind last night.

Kaname groaned something unintelligible that sounded vaguely like _make it stop _as he shifted about sluggishly. Several unknown objects crunched and tumbled off of Zero's dresser without being physically touched as the pureblood unconsciously searched for the alarm clock, apparently not awake enough to realize that that wasn't source of the problem.

"Ssokay... got it... got it..." Zero soothed groggily, pressing a sleepy hand against Kaname's back to let him know he'd take care of it before the pureblood could accidentally trash his room. Murmuring half-coherent apologies for disturbing his lover's slumber, he kissed something warm and soft which might have been Kaname's cheek or his shoulder and slid out of bed. He shivered in the cool air, stumbling and patting around blearily until he finally found his pants and tugged his phone out of the pocket. It had stopped shrilling by now, but the lighted screen told him he'd gotten a text message.

He winced at the time displayed in the corner of the screen. _Shit, what moron was calling him at three in the afternoon? _He'd barely gotten two hours of rest so the irony of how that thought should have struck someone who used to be human was currently lost on his sleep deprived brain. After two tries, he managed to pry the flip-phone open and access the message.

This time, he swore aloud as he read the small letters, blinking several times and rubbing his eyes to make sure he was seeing it correctly. The sleepy profanity elicited another groan from the direction of the bed as Kaname tried hard to rouse himself and figure out what was going on.

The pureblood was beyond exhausted and could barely drag himself awake enough to truly be called conscious. The toll of the past day and night was evident in Kaname's uncharacteristic inability to shake off the heavy mantle of sleep still muddling his mind. "Okay?" he managed to mumble, struggling hard to pry his head off the bed and get his eyes open so he could actually look in Zero's direction. It seemed impossibly hard.

Zero was more awake now as the message he'd just gotten began to sink in fully. He closed the phone and shuffled back towards the bed. Resisting the strong gravity well that the mattress seemed to generate; he leaned down and stroked his lover's hair reassuringly. Settling Kaname's head back down against the pillow, he tugged the disrupted covers up over the pureblood's graceful, naked shoulder.

"Yeah, it's fine," he murmured reassuringly. "It's just the Association."

Kaname groaned again, in disappointment this time, even as he allowed Zero to settle him back down under the covers. "You have to go?"

"Yeah, I'm afraid so..." Zero sighed heavily, feeling incredibly torn. "It's a code 3," he said apologetically. He did not want to leave, and it wasn't just because he was really tired. He didn't want to leave Kaname right now, especially when he had no idea how long this was going to take, but he didn't have much choice. You did notignore a code 3 emergency call, you _could_ not.

The message indicated that group of school children on a nature retreat had been taken captive by a group of still semi-sane E's who were using them as feed stock to try and stave off their own impending loss of reason. The emergency code told Zero that dispatch must hold out hope that at least some of the children could be rescued alive if action was taken quickly enough. That explained the _drop everything and get your ass over here _priority level. The muster location given was a remote area off of old highway 27, it would take Zero several hours just to get there, so he knew he had to move as fast as he could now... but he found himself hesitating beside the bed instead. He felt torn between the bevy of nameless strangers that could be depending on him and the need to be here with one very well known person who also needed him.

"I'm so sorry, there's a bunch of kids in trouble and I... I'll be back as soon as I can..." he promised softly, still stroking Kaname's hair, thinking this couldn't be happening at a worse time and feeling guilty as hell. He almost wished he could pretend he had just never gotten the message. Technical glitches did happen after all... but he knew that if he ended up having to hear about a lot of little bodies being carried out of the woods later he would forever wonder if he could have made a difference. He couldn't live with that possibility. Life really sucked sometimes.

Fortunately, Kaname was too out of it to react much. The pureblood's sleepy brain wasn't alert enough to make sense of the hunter emergency numbering system, but it accepted the fact that Zero said it meant he had to go and simply trusted him. He slid one hand out of the covers and somehow managed to catch and hold Zero's fingers, squeezing them drowsily. "S'okay," he assured softly, instinctively trying to ease his lover's mind. "I'll be fine, go be a hero. Just leave the address." He kissed Zero's knuckles, smiling and snuggling contentedly with his hand.

Zero knew what the pureblood meant, Kaname liked to know where Zero was being sent when he had to be away. "I'll forward you the text," the young hunter promised, squeezing Kaname's hand and bending down to kiss his temple. "You go on and rest now, okay? I'll try to hurry and be back soon."

Kaname just nodded, his body already starting to slacken again despite his efforts to the contrary, once more proving his deep exhaustion. "Jus' be safe," he murmured.

Zero kissed him again before straightening up and reluctantly disengaging. "Promise," he returned softly. Despite what he'd said, he doubted that a situation deemed bad enough to warrant this level of priority code was going to be cleared up too rapidly.

Zero pressed his eyes closed for a moment, hating this situation all over again. For perhaps the first time he wondered how hunters with families managed to balance their lives and their jobs. How had his parents done it? How did you not feel guilty at times like this, when you had to take off and leave your... he opened his eyes slowly, a small smile tugging at his lips despite himself, as he realized he'd just been thinking about Kaname like they were married or something. Well... it really wasn't that far from the truth anymore, was it?

With reluctant haste, Zero showered and dressed, trying to be as quiet as possible so as not to disturb his lover. Usually it was impossible, but thankfully today Kaname was actually sleeping like a log. That was good; Zero would have felt _really _guilty if he'd deprived the other vampire of his much-needed rest on top of everything else.

Slinging his gear bag over one shoulder, he flipped open his phone again and forwarded the text to Kaname's cell as he'd promised he would. He also wrote a brief message on a piece of paper from the desk.

_Location's on your phone. Might take a while, don't worry if I'm unreachable. Will try to be back before sunup, or will call. I'm sorry. Be back soon as I can. _

Zero hesitated, then went ahead and penned the last line.

_I love you. - Z._

He folded the note and left it on the bed beside the sleeping pureblood. Last thing he wanted was for Kaname to wake up and not remember where he had gone, try to reach him while Zero was in an enforced quiet zone and start panicking, or worse, think the hunter had left him.

Still feeling that this sucked worse than anything he'd had to do in a long time, Zero slipped out of the bedroom and made his way quickly down to the spacious garage where his bike was parked. He paused in the entry way.

"Seiren?" he called quietly. He didn't sense her, but he would bet just about anything that she was somewhere nearby. She almost always was, if she wasn't away on assignment. "Seiren?" he tried again and was not surprised when she appeared beside him a few moments later. He wondered sometimes if the praetorian ever slept, or if that was something she had somehow trained herself out of. He almost wouldn't put it past her. Due to the usual rapidity with which she seemed to appear whenever Kaname wanted her, Zero was convinced that she must spend every moment hanging around somewhere just out of their sight but close enough to be on hand if the pureblood should call. It was kind of a creepy thought, actually. The notion that she was apparently around if Zero wanted to call her too was also vaguely unsettling for some reason.

Seiren regarded him silently, the slight, inquiring tilt of her head the only indication of curiosity over the unusual event of having the hunter summon her.

"Seiren, I have to go for a while," Zero explained. "Stay close to Kaname until I get back." He knew those were hardly necessary instructions and he felt weird giving her orders like this, but it made him feel slightly better to know for sure that Kaname would have someone close on hand. If Seiren objected to taking instructions from him in this regard she gave no sign and instead simply nodded. Zero hesitated, feeling like there was something else he ought to say, although he didn't know what it might be. Finally, he just gave a small nod and turned away, swinging a leg over his bike.

He turned the key in the ignition and then paused at the unexpected touch of Seiren's slim, strong hand on arm. Her serious eyes locked with his.

"You know I would protect him with my life," she said quietly. It was a statement, not a question. It was also more words in a row than she usually directed at him unless he had ticked her off.

Zero nodded, giving her a half-smile. "Yeah. I do. Thanks."

Something like a smile touched her lips as well and then she was gone. Zero had expected her to be miffed at him for asking her to do what she surely would anyway, but instead she actually seemed to respect him for the fact that he was trying to make sure Kaname was properly guarded.

He shook his head as he pulled out of the garage, thinking he might never really understand her. The day was hot and bright and he winced as he pulled out into the sunlight. The distinct downside of his increasing vampire powers seemed to be an equally increasing sensitivity to daylight. Thank goodness his skin was still pretty tough to it, but his eyes were getting more and more photosensitive and it was annoying. He steered with one hand, slipping on a dark pair of shades with the other as he pulled out onto the road and sped quickly away.

* * *

Despite the fact that Zero tended to take speed limits more as suggestions that were best when you doubled them, it still took him several hours to reach the location to which he had been summoned. The fresh air was bracing, but his lack of sleep was clinging to him like a persistent ache. That wasn't good; he needed to get his game on, and quick.

Due to the urgency of the summons, Zero expected to find at least a few other hunters already on-scene when he reached the indicated coordinates. He was slightly surprised when he pulled to the side of the long, deserted highway next to the mile post that had been indicated in the directions and found no hunter marks present and no sign of anyone else in the area.

A short expanse of tall, bramble-choked grass led away from the road before running into the dark tangle of the nearby tree line. The sun was setting directly behind the trees and Zero squinted painfully even with the shades as he scanned the area cautiously. Apparently, he was first on scene. Given the remoteness of this area, that wasn't actually _too _surprising. There might not be any local hunters available and Night Haven was already fairly far out in country, meaning he'd had a shorter journey than the hunters who lived in town.

According to the brief intel he'd been given, the E's were holding the children in an old hunting cabin somewhere in these woods to the west, exact location unknown. The designated gathering point was several miles away from the suspected location so as not to alert the E's. From here, he would need to go in on foot.

Zero pressed his palm against one side of the thick, old wooden post that supported the worn mile marker, twisting the familiar charm easily and leaving his mark so that those who came after would know he was on the scene.

Leaving his bike by the post, Zero made his way cautiously down the embankment towards the tree line. It never crossed his mind to wait for backup. Unless specific orders had been given not to hunt alone, that wasn't how it usually worked. Hunters were primarily trained to work solo, even on group ops. When it was an emergency call like this, and not a planned mission, you could never be sure of who would be around to respond or when they would get there. SOP was to assess the situation and take whatever you deemed to be the best course of action. Hunters weren't so much given orders, as objectives. How those objectives were carried out was up to the individual. In many ways, they were a lot like professional assassins. It made them somewhat less cohesive than most paramilitary or law enforcement type groups, but the ability to act immediately and with a high degree of autonomy was essential to their effectiveness.

Because of this, Zero thought nothing of it as he slipped into the trees alone, deep in the middle of nowhere, in search of potentially deadly quarry. Silently, he made his way quickly but cautiously through the trees, angling towards the deeper part of the woods. He slid the Bloody Rose out of its holster and held the weapon loose, but ready at his side. The big problem with missions like this was usually the sketchy or incomplete intelligence. While he liked the freedom of basically just being pointed in the enemy's general direction and told to have at it, sometimes a little better idea of what you were up against was nice. As it was, you had to be ready for anything, because more often than not there were at least a few nasty surprises in store somewhere along the line.

He'd been moving steadily westward for about twenty minutes when he felt the first, unmistakable prickle of a vampire presence trace through his consciousness. Zero froze, pressing close against the tree beside him, both hands sliding to the grip of his weapon as he cast about, trying to find from which direction the feeling was coming.

The setting sun was making the woods cast a jumbled host of tangled, stretching shadows. As the day dimmed, Zero's dark shades were becoming a hindrance, so he pocked them. The young ex-human grimaced as the still brilliantly sharp rays of the sinking sun stabbed at his sensitive optic nerves. He blinked, frowning as he scanned the area. Sunrise and sunset were sometimes the worst times of day for him because the shadows were getting too dark for sunglasses but the sun was still brilliant enough to give him a headache. The twisting shapes that the forest created were making matters even worse.

Suddenly the sound of movement caught at his sharp hearing and he spun towards it, gun leveled. He winced as he found himself staring right into the setting sun. A gap in the trees let the light pour in through the canopy, making his eyes water as he strained to adjust. He caught a flicker of movement in the trees. It was far away and he couldn't see the being properly around the glare, but the sudden, retreating movement told him that the vampire had seen _him. _

Swearing mentally, Zero abandoned stealth and hauled ass after the illusive, swiftly retreating shape. He couldn't let it get away from him. If it warned its companions they would kill the hostages. With any luck, though, the vampire would instead lead him right to those same hostages. Determined not to lose his quarry and pushed to using vampire speed, Zero was drawn swiftly deeper and deeper into the lonely woods.

* * *

Aido was surprised when he caught sight of the clock and realized how long he and Naija had been talking. He'd switched to his wireless headset a long time ago, freeing his hands so that he could run a number of different simulations on the computer as he and the other scientist explored the implications of his discovery regarding part of the virus' structure. She had indeed agreed with his conclusions, and the more they tested it and ran it through different models, the clearer it became.

Aido shook his head, staring at the slowly rotating molecule chain on his screen. "No... it doesn't work, you just can't generate that exact combination randomly or as a side-effect of anything else. That protein sequence is totally irrelevant to the survival of the strain and the base matrix is too complex, too specific." He ran his hand down his face, absorbing the implications.

Naija was silent for a moment, apparently doing much the same thing. "Hanabusa..." she didn't seem to be aware that she'd used his first name. "You realize what this means."

"Yes," Aido agreed slowly. Yes, he understood all too well. He'd been suspecting it for a while now. The fact that he was the only one of the four infected scientists who was showing any signs of illness had been a clear warning sign. There had always been a chance he was wrong, but now, there could be no doubt. It was no accident that the virus, still dormant and acting like mere junk DNA in the other scientists' blood, had changed so drastically within his own body. The reaction he had suffered had not been some unfortunate, bizarre side effect of the virus and the blood tablets he had taken interacting. It had been an intentional, targeted chain reaction. The chemical structure of the tablets had _activated_ the seemingly harmless extra DNA strands like a binary poison. The virus hadn't so much _mutated _as it had been _completed. _

"There's no way this is a coincidence. We suspected this virus was engineered, probably as some kind of bio-weapon, but I think we can now be certain that it's actual goal is not humans at all," Aido said quietly. "The fact that it can infect vampires is not a side effect. The fact that it only seems to have a negative effect on vampires who take blood substitutes is not a side effect. Judging by this, it looks like that is possibly the whole _point_."

Naija had to agree, and she understood how serious the implications were. "It certainly looks that way. You think this is a deliberate attack against the co-existence movement, don't you?" In any other circumstances, she would have dismissed that as mere paranoid conspiracy theory, but there was no refuting the very real scientific proof in front of her.

"Well, it _is _the first possibility that comes to mind, isn't it?" Aido was a little more sarcastic than intended, but Naija was willing to forgive him for feeling a bit bitter given the circumstances. "I'm having a hard time coming up with any other logical explanations, how about you?"

"No," Naija sighed. "Such a specific targeting system doesn't make sense in any other context, unless there's something about it that we haven't discovered yet. But it's strange... for such a complex weapon; the delivery system seems so crude and inherently flawed. It's like shooting a laser from slingshot. I mean, in theory I can understand targeting a third world country. The part about substandard medical treatment and the difficulty of forming any effective quarantine makes sense... but An'swala itself was a terrible choice. Sure, the human losses are massive because of the war, but that same war also isolated them and is greatly diminishing the chance of a global epidemic. They're all dying out before they can spread it. And that's another thing - perhaps the most flawed part of all. The human mortality rate is simply far too high. Not only is the window of opportunity for a vampire to become infected pretty small, but if the goal is to hurt co-existence, it doesn't make a lot of sense to create something that will kill off almost 99% of all the humans it touches."

"You're right," it was Aido's turn to have to agree. The pieces just didn't fit easily together no matter how you turned them. "Where is the sense in risking wiping out the food supply while simultaneously making vampires unable to tolerate the only available blood substitute? It's a doomsday scenario that benefits no one."

"We're missing something," Naija concurred. "Something in this picture is wrong. There's some element we're not taking into account." She sounded frustrated. "Maybe it's a mistake. Maybe the human fatality rate wasn't anticipated."

"I don't see how it couldn't have been," Aido frowned. "Regardless of how it affects vampires, anyone with a basic understanding of human physiology would have to know how destructive it would be to them. That's another weird thing though, isn't it?" he paused for a long moment. "You go to all the work of targeting vampires who take blood tablets... and then you just make them a little sick? I mean, don't get me wrong, this totally sucks, and I'm not trying to borrow trouble... but given what we saw happening to those people in An'swala the fact that I only have symptoms roughly in line with a human strain of flu seems strange and rather anti-climactic."

"You mean you wonder why you aren't dead or seriously in pain," Naija said bluntly.

Aido frowned and toyed with his keyboard. "Yeah. More or less."

"Well... maybe making you sick isn't the point. Maybe it's just supposed to make you unable to tolerate the blood tablets, like the allergy that some ex-humans experience," Naija hypothesized. "If this is an intentional blow against co-existence, that would make sense, wouldn't it?"

"Maybe," Aido had to agree that that was a valid possibility. "But then we're right back to the same quandary regarding the human mortality rate. And you know... it's weird... I can't be sure of this yet, but the more the virus spreads and metastasizes through my body, the more brittle its structure is starting to look. Like it is spreading itself too thin or it's just not being fed enough somehow. Maybe I'm only seeing what I want to see, but I can't help thinking that something is missing, some last link in the chain which is making it unstable."

"You mean some third re-agent that would complete the sequence started by interaction between the virus and the blood tablets?" Naija sounded intrigued and puzzled. "Aido, are you saying you think it might eventually break down completely after it runs its course and you'd be all right?" the hint of honest hope in her voice was unexpected and Aido couldn't help a small smile. He wasn't sure if she was actually concerned about him, or just herself, or if it was because she still felt responsible for infecting him, but he chose to take it how he wanted.

"I don't know." He couldn't let himself hope that yet, it was way too early and he didn't have enough data to support that kind of hypothesis. He was almost afraid to jinx it somehow and was aware of the danger of accidentally skewing data to make it fit what you wanted to see instead of what it really meant. "It's a possibility, but there are a lot of possibilities. Most of which are bad and involve me becoming a vegetable," he was only half-way joking, and it wasn't terribly funny, even in his own ears. He knew that the virus' apparent breakdown could in fact be the first stages of it changing shape yet again and perhaps becoming even more deadly. He didn't want to think about that. It made his already queasy stomach feel even worse.

"Send me all your test results, let me look them over," Naija said quietly. "Another set of eyes couldn't hurt. You can use the data link at your lab, or... I could set up a drop on the computer you're using now."

Aido's eyebrows raised as a small program that he had not called popped up in the corner of his screen. "_You _could set it up?" he said with a wry grin, realizing that she must have remoted into his system while they were working together. He probably should have been irritated, but somehow it made him like her more.

"Yeah," the smile was evident in her voice again. "You should work on your security, Aido."

Aido didn't burst her bubble by mention that she'd probably only been able to breach it because they were already conferencing and because this was his home computer, not the one with all the sensitive data at the lab. Instead he just grinned. "Yeah, okay, I'll take that under advisement. While we're on the topic, Sato Labs should do the same thing. There's a great little back door if you know where to look, and I found something interesting." He remembered the supply logs for the first time since they'd started talking.

"What do you know about whatever Sato-sama was doing in An'swala before we got there? If there's any kind of record or anyone from earlier missions that we could talk to, maybe we can piece together some of those perplexing missing pieces about the origin of the virus."

"Sato-sama had no involvement in An'swala before our mission, we were the first," Naija brushed the question away without much thought.

"Nope, wrong," Aido said smugly, pulling up the records he'd downloaded and sending them to her through the little drop window she'd opened. He liked knowing something she didn't. "There's dozens of invoices for lab supplies being sent to An'swala from as far back as several years ago. Just take a look."

There were several long minutes of silence and there was something strange in Naija's voice when she finally spoke again. "Where did you get these?"

Aido hesitated, suddenly wondering if he should have shared this with her after all. It was too late to hedge now, however. "I told you, from Sato Labs' server. I couldn't access any research logs, but the supply records weren't too heavily encrypted. So... obviously, Sato-sama had _something _to do with An'swala prior to the outbreak." Aido's tone was still light, but he was getting a cold, uncomfortable feeling in his stomach. Until he'd said it just now, he hadn't really considered some of the other, not very pleasant possible implications that that statement opened up.

Naija must have had some inkling of what was going through his mind because her voice took on a decidedly cool edge. "As far as I know, we had no involvement in that area until our team was sent there. I know Diachi-sama was concerned about being perceived as getting involved in the Syndeo conflict, I cannot imagine..." she didn't finish the sentence. Aido would have given a lot right then to know whether he could believe her, like he wanted to, or whether she was just that good of a liar. It was not a comfortable thought, especially since he'd shared every single discovery he'd made thus far with her.

"I will look into it. Possibly, there has been a clerical error, or we were a contractor supplying someone else's needs in the area," she dismissed the matter simply. "Don't make something out of nothing, Aido."

"Sure. But you'll let me know if it has any connection to..."

"Of course," she cut him off and that time, he knew she was lying. "Aido... it's late. I need to get some sleep. It was nice talking to you."

"Yeah," Aido said quietly, feeling strangely miserable. "You too, Kish. Rest well."

* * *

Zero was starting to get a bad feeling about this. He'd been chasing the illusive vampire for miles and the creature just kept fleeing. Experience told him it should have turned on him by now, if you pursued an E long enough, they usually did. He knew it was possible he was being led into a trap and the other vampires were waiting somewhere at the end of the trail, but although he was wary, the possibility didn't worry him too much. He was not afraid to face a pack of E's on his own, and in any case he didn't have much of a choice. Ultimately, it was his job to face them and free their captives, so if they wanted to lead him right to the nest, then so be it. It was their funeral.

The world was a blur of greens and browns as he raced through the woods, quick reflexes allowing him to slap small branches and undergrowth out of the way before they hit him. His palms smarted from it, but his healing factor was helpful in dealing with the cuts and scratches he was giving himself from the inhumanly rapid journey through the tangled terrain.

Jumping to clear a small, brush-choked gully, Zero plowed his way up a steep incline and over the top of a small rise. The land sloped sharply down again from there and below in the distance he could see the blur of his quarry flashing and flickering between the trees. The woods were thinning ahead and he tensed as he scrambled down the hill, slipping and sliding on the loose pine needles under foot. They appeared to be coming up on some kind of clearing and he had a feeling that this game of tag might soon be drawing to a close.

Zero felt tired and winded from the long run, but he felt invigorated too. The thrill of the hunt throbbed in his blood, his inherent vampire instincts singing with the exhilaration of running down his prey. He didn't like to admit those feelings, but neither could he deny them.

As he neared the edge of the woods, the thinning tree line again let the setting sun pour in and Zero blinked, stumbling as a blinding light cut into his vision and obliterated everything else.

_No. Not the sun._ Zero threw one arm up in front of his face, trying to shield his throbbing eyes while leveling the Bloody Rose directly ahead of him. His instincts screamed at him that this was all wrong. The sun was almost down, there was no way it could be casting this much light anymore. It was not the sun. It was a man-made light, or more properly, it was a _hunter _made light. Zero was plenty familiar with the high intensity flood lights that hunters often used to blind and confuse their prey. He'd just never had one turned on him before. _What the hell?_

Zero darted behind the nearest tree, seeking cover as he blinked the dark, swimming spots out of his burning eyes. Something was very, very wrong here. He hadn't gotten more than a few steps before a sharp, burning pain dug into the side of his throat like a vicious set of tearing fangs. The searing jolt sent him stumbling to his knees. He managed to hang onto his weapon, clutching at his neck with his other hand. He expected to find blood, but there was none. He hadn't been bitten and he hadn't been shot, but the left side of his neck burned like hell.

Suddenly, Zero understood what was happening as he recognized the source of the pain. Under his hand, his tattoo was blazing hot. He couldn't see it, but he knew the usually black design must have gone blood red. Unlike many tamed vampires, Zero's mark had been tattooed instead of branded on his skin with an iron. Cross had protected him as much as he could. Just at the moment though, it felt very much as if there was a red-hot brand being pressed and held against him.

He clawed at his neck in agony, struggling to get back to his feet, to fight what was happening, but he couldn't move. He could barely breathe as a crushing paralysis descended on his body. Panic reared in his gut. He might not have been afraid of facing a pack of E's but what was happening to him right now was justifiably terrifying. He knew how this would end. He knew this was a battle he could not win. He was fighting as hard as he could, but the spell held him much too firmly. It did not matter how strong he was, he was a tamed vampire and he could not fight the power that his hunter mark held over him when it was invoked.

That was exactly what had happened; there was no doubt of it. Someone had activated the powerful taming charm that had been placed on him when he was a boy and it had quite literally brought him to his knees. Zero wavered, gasping in agony and feeling a thrill of fear rake down his spine as his numb fingers became too wooden to hold onto his weapon and the Bloody Rose slipped from his fingers, clattering soundlessly to the forest floor.

When the gun fell, it scuffed a small groove in the loose covering of leaves and pine needles which blanketed the rocky ground, revealing a small streak of white chalk. Looking down through the spots clouding his vision, Zero realized he could just see the vague impression of other white lines drawn across the rough loam of the earth around him, well hidden beneath the leaves. _Oh crap. _He'd apparently walked across the edge of a giant charm net drawn along the edge of the woods. That must be what had activated his tattoo.

His body was no longer under his control and he slumped sideways, tumbling to his back on the ground. It felt like someone was standing on his throat, holding him down while an intense pressure crushed his chest. He could not access any of his vampire powers and suppressed panic warred with confusion in his spinning mind. He heard footsteps approaching and tried to turn his head to see who was there, but he couldn't manage even that much motion.

His heart was pounding in his ears like a drum. He was in too much pain now to tell if the person approaching now was the vampire he'd been chasing earlier, or someone else. He was irresistibly defenseless prey in his current state, which meant that if it was a vampire, he was as good as dead.

This couldn't be happening. This was all wrong. There was no way some random E's could have done this. Only a hunter could have set this net. Only a hunter or someone trained in hunter craft could be doing this to him. For a brief moment he considered that maybe this was another accident, like the time he'd been shot. Perhaps he'd stepped into a trap laid by another hunter which was intended for their mutual quarry. Deep down though, he knew that wasn't true. This kind of net could only catch tamed ex-humans, and they were not hunting tamed E's tonight. The vampire he'd been chasing had passed directly through this same area without being caught. He'd been right earlier about this being a trap, but terribly wrong about who was setting it. For whatever reason, this net had been cast specifically for him, and he'd run right into it. _Freaking idiot! _

The blinding flood light hit his eyes again and Zero grit his teeth in pain. He tried to keep his eyes open, tried to see who it was who was now standing over him, but he couldn't. The light was too intense and he could only clench his eyes and try to turn his head away from it as much as his paralyzed muscles would allow.

His body was tense as a bowstring as he braced himself for whatever was coming. His numb, wooden fingers dug into the loam at his sides as he tried not to imagine the sensation of fangs tearing into his flesh, or of a bullet tearing through his heart. He set his jaw, anger and defiance gripping his pinched expression. He couldn't escape, but he damn well wasn't going to meet his fate like a whimpering coward.

The kick in the ribs came as a surprise. A small grunt of pain escaped him before he clamped his jaw shut tighter. Another kick followed the first, and another, sending jagged bolts of pain shooting through his upper body. A fist slammed into his face, bouncing his head against the ground. He felt something warm trickle down his chin. A second blow split his lower lip. A knee or an elbow punched hard into his stomach.

Zero gasped, struggling to draw ragged breaths. He squirmed on the ground, fighting with his paralyzed body but unable to do more than twist feebly as the unknown assailants beat the crap out of him. There had to be more than one because there were too many fists and feet in play. Zero was unable to stifle a sharp groan of agony as someone stamped on his fingers while someone else kicked him in an even more sensitive area. He couldn't tell how many of them there were, just that there was more than one. He couldn't see anyone, couldn't make out body shapes or even genders, much less faces. The intense light still trained on his face was more effective than any blindfold – a common hunter tactic. The people beating him were obviously intimately familiar with how to hurt and immobilize a vampire.

They did not act like vampires themselves, however. No one was using claws or teeth. His blood was in the air but they were not trying to feed. It was not typical 'E behavior at all, nor was the coordinated, deliberate nature of how he had been taken down. His attackers could have killed him already if they wanted to, but this was starting to feel horribly more like a blanket party than a murder attempt. His attackers were strangely silent. They did not taunt or jeer. They said nothing that would identify them. Gave him no voices to recognize or remember later.

Zero stubbornly tried to swallow a sob of pain as the vicious blows became unbearable. It hurt badly. Almost as painful was the growing, creeping sense of betrayal that burned like bile churning in his gut. He didn't want to think what he was thinking, but everything about this attack screamed _hunter. _

A few more kicks to the head and the blinding white world began to go grey. Consciousness mercifully faded. Zero fought it, his instincts protesting being made further helpless in front of his tormenters, but it was yet another battle he couldn't win. His attackers appeared to recognize the symptoms when his body went slack because as Zero lingered just on the brink of oblivion, he felt the blows stop. He felt hands tugging at him and the sensation of his clothing rubbing against his bruised skin, but he could no longer make sense of what they wanted or what they were doing. Reality fragmented and started to swirl away.

Just before he blacked out, he thought he felt something sharp, like a needle, prick the inside of his elbow... but he couldn't be sure. He couldn't be sure of anything in this state. Darkness descended like a merciful angel and carried him away in her wings.

* * *

Kaname came awake to the realization that he was sitting bolt upright in bed, his fingers buried in the mattress at his sides... and he was screaming. Cold sweat covered his body, making his hair cling to his neck and shoulders. He was trembling.

He breathed slowly through his mouth, heart pounding, blinking rapidly as consciousness gradually took a firmer hold. His throat ached and he felt both shaky and foolish. He couldn't for the life of him remember what he had been dreaming, but that was probably a good thing.

Running a hand through his tousled hair, Kaname glanced towards the clock on the dresser and saw that it was a little after sundown. He flopped back down onto his back, staring up at the ceiling and waiting for his pounding heart to slow. He lifted his hand, splaying his fingers and staring up at its outline against the ceiling. It seemed odd for some reason that he could move, as if he'd unconsciously expected to be paralyzed. That made no logical sense, but having just come out of a nightmare he didn't suppose logic need apply.

With a sigh, Kaname dropped his hand again and it came down on what felt like a piece of paper which was tangled in the sheets beside him. The pureblood plucked up the out-of-place article and looked it over. He saw the handwriting and a soft little smile immediately graced his features. He kind of remembered Zero leaving earlier, although it felt like it had been minutes ago rather than the hours that had actually passed.

He wished Zero were here. He selfishly did not want to be alone, but he knew that Zero had obligations that were just as important and unavoidable as his own. Trying not to think too much about that and the things he had ahead of him to deal with today, Kaname let his gaze trace the familiar scrawl again. He traced the last line lightly with his finger, as if he could absorb Zero's affection through the paper. There was a time when he had longed to hear those three words from Zero and not imagined it could ever be possible. Despite everything, he considered himself a lucky man.

With a small sigh, Kaname kissed the paper and folded it up. He knew he was being sappy and ridiculous, but he didn't care. Sliding out of bed, he borrowed a robe from Zero's closet and tied it closed around him before turning towards the closed door that led to the hall.

"Do you need something, Seiren?" he inquired. He'd been aware of her presence just outside the door since he awoke. No doubt his cries had brought her, if she hadn't already been there even before. She must have realized he was not in danger however, and knew better than to intrude.

"No, my lord," her quiet voice came to him through the door. "Do you wish me to leave?"

Kaname knew that if he sent her away she'd _leave _all of a few hundred yards at the most, keeping respectfully out of his way but close at hand. It was a normal state of affairs and he did not find that bothersome. "No, you may stay. Inform Izumi that I would like breakfast served in the morning room and contact the office, see if there have been any messages for me."

Not needing to wait to hear her assent to know that she would do as he requested, Kaname made his way into the bathroom to shower. He felt emotionally raw after yesterday and a heavy, lingering depression sat like a lump of lead in his stomach. He used Zero's shower gel and shampoo which made him feel momentarily better, since he now smelled a bit like his lover. It was silly, but he missed Zero so much right now he ached.

Kaname knew that he'd already indulged in as much weakness as he could afford... more, in fact. He had to pull himself together and try to salvage the possible mess of things he'd made. He could not afford to let Nasser use his own unsettled emotions against him. He needed to make sure that he won their bet at any cost. He couldn't even contemplate losing. He couldn't contemplate having to submit to that man again... having to be touched by him again...

Kaname realized he was hyperventilating and he tilted his head down, letting the shower beat on the back of his head as he leaned against the wall with one hand, struggling to breathe normally. His fingers pressed hard against the warm, slick tile. _This... __**this **__was exactly what he could not afford. _

By the time Kaname came down to breakfast he was dressed for the office and seemed to be his usual composed self once more, giving Seiren and Izumi no cause for concern. He ate his breakfast, read the paper, complimented Izumi on her cooking and called for the driver to bring his car around much like any other morning.

Zero would have noticed that he ate very little. Zero would have noticed that he read the same page of the newspaper three times and retained nothing from it. Zero would have seen the fragility behind the mask. But Zero was not there.

Seiren rode with him in the limo. She did not usually travel in the same car with him, but he had a feeling that Zero must have said something to her because she was being even more attentive than usual. He probably should have been annoyed at the hunter for being over-protective, but he wasn't. In any case, she was able to catch him up on the numerous messages he'd missed as a result of leaving the office early the previous day and Kaname tried to let his mind settle back into business mode.

He pulled out his phone and saw that he had an unread text message. It was the one Zero had forwarded him earlier. He read the details and filed the location away in his memory. The time stamp told him that Zero had left a lot earlier than he'd thought, and he felt guilty when he realized how little sleep his lover must have gotten. He'd have to make sure and take good care of Zero tonight and try to pamper him a bit. The hunter had been so wonderful to him in the aftermath of everything that had happened. Kaname knew he didn't deserve that kind of pure, devoted love, but it meant everything to him.

Kaname was about to return one of the messages Seiren had given him, when he was interrupted by an incoming call. For half a moment he hoped it was Zero, but the caller ID quickly identified it as Aido. Kaname pushed the talk button and held the phone to his ear, his gaze sliding to the car window and the landscape passing by outside as he did so. "Yes, Aido?"

"Kaname-sama, am I calling too early, or do you have a minute? There have been some new developments... things I think you need to know about right away." Aido's voice sounded heavy and almost a little hesitant. It was not the excited tone he usually had when he had some clever new discovery he wanted to tell his beloved pureblood leader.

"I'm on my way to work, Aido. Now is fine. What's happened?"

In low tones, Aido filled Kaname in on his latest discovery regarding the nature of the virus, its possible implications, the unexplained indication of earlier Sato Laboratories involvement in An'swala and the unsettling way his and Naija's phone call had ended.

Kaname leaned back in his seat as he listened, a strange, niggling little sensation of unease forming inside him. He wasn't sure what this all meant any more than Aido was... but he was certain that it was nothing good.

"I'm sorry, Kaname-sama," Aido said quietly. "Do... do you think I did wrong in working so closely with Dr. Kish on this? Do you think that somehow, Diachi-sama might be-"

"Be calm, Aido," Kaname hushed him in a firm but soothing tone. These were not things that should be said lightly, or over the phone. Diachi Sato was an important ally, and while Kaname knew better than to fully trust him, he was still going to require a lot more compelling proof than this before he would act openly as if he _didn't _trust him either. "There are many possible explanations and there are some conclusions to which we must not jump just yet." Still, the pureblood felt a hard knot of apprehension and suspicion fisting in his stomach. "All there is right now is a lot of doubt and some odd, unverified facts that don't fit together. Tread carefully. Continue to work with Dr. Kish and the others, but use your discretion. I will look into some of the questions that have been raised. Advise me if you discover anything else."

"Yes, Kaname-sama," Aido agreed quietly. He seemed prepared to hang up, but Kaname paused.

"Aido?"

"Yes, Kaname-sama?"

"How are you feeling?" the question was gentle.

"I-I'm doing fine, Kaname-sama!" the pleased, flustered tone in his voice said that he was emotionally doing a lot better now, thanks to the notion that the pureblood was concerned about him. Kaname could practically feel the noble's pleased blush all the way across the phone line.

"Good, I'm glad to hear it," Kaname said quietly, a small smile dancing at the corners of his mouth. "Take care of yourself, Aido." He hung up the phone and held it in his lap for a moment. He knew that Aido had probably not been telling the truth. The blond was _not _doing fine, but he would not admit that to Kaname. They all had their reasons to try to appear strong.

Instead of making the call he'd intended to make, Kaname tucked the phone back in his pocket and pondered what he had just learned. Something about it all bothered him... something beyond the more obvious implications. He could sense that something was deeply amiss and it tickled at his consciousness like pieces of a puzzle that almost fit... _almost... _

He was mulling it over as they pulled into the parking garage next to his office and he and Seiren exited the car. Then he saw who was waiting for him near the entrance to the building and everything else scattered from his mind.

Nasser Ardon was standing on the pavement, hands in his pockets, leaning his hips back against side of a long, dark limo which was illegally parked next to the sidewalk that led up to the building's entryway. He was dressed casually today in a loose, button-down designer shirt and slacks. His long dark hair tumbled free down his back and he wore a charming, predatory smile that would have frightened a shark.

Kaname tried to control his humiliating physical reaction to the man. He wasn't sure whether he was more ashamed of the unexpected chill of fear in his gut or the completely unwanted flare of physical attraction that happened elsewhere. His seething hatred at least was a normal, comforting emotion.

_Breathe. Breathe normally and do not let him see you hesitate. _It took all of Kaname's will to keep moving steadily forward. He'd not expected to see Nasser again so soon... or without Zero present. He couldn't believe the last thought had actually even crossed his mind and it angered him. Since when had he become such a scared, sniveling little girl? This was ludicrous! Straightening his shoulders slightly and holding his head high, Kaname managed to show nothing of what he felt and did not allow his steps to falter as he strode briskly towards the entrance, and therefore, towards Nasser.

Seiren was trailing in his wake and Kaname sensed her become tense. He feared that she was reacting to his own unease and that he was being that transparent, but it could have been a natural wariness of the other pureblood. Or... it could have been because it was this _particular _pureblood, who Kaname realized she also had reason to dislike.

Kaname would have kept walking right on by Nasser if he could have gotten away with it, but of course, Nasser did not allow that to happen. He stepped casually out into Kaname's path as he approached as if greeting an old friend. "Kaname, you're looking... well I was going to say you were looking well, but actually you look a little peaked. I do hope you slept all right," the elder pureblood said in smooth, disingenuously cordial tones.

"Very well," Kaname dismissed casually, forced to pull to a stop on the sidewalk and exchange pleasantries with the other vampire. "Is there something you want, Nasser? I have business to attend to."

Nasser ignored the unsubtle snub and glanced over towards Seiren. "Different dog today, Kaname? I do hope you weren't too hard on your other pet on my account." He recalled Seiren only vaguely from years past. He wondered briefly if Kaname was bedding her too and if he had some kind of thing for silver haired low-bloods.

Kaname's smile was as hard as steel and icier than a glacier. As _if _he would ever have done anything to Zero on this bastard's account. He did not bother deigning Nasser's commentary with a reply and simply stared at him with bored impatience. "If you're having trouble occupying your time while you're staying here in our fair city, I could arrange a tour guide," he said dryly. _There are a few places in hell I'd love to show you. _

Nasser laughed and reached out to stroke Kaname's cheek with the back of his knuckles. Kaname caught the other pureblood's wrist in a crushing iron grip before he could make contact. They stared at one another for a moment, Kaname's eyes fiery and incensed and Nasser's cool and unreadable. Spider web cracks raced across the tinted windows of Nasser's car with a faint cracking screech like the sound of nails on a chalkboard.

Finally Nasser relaxed his arm and Kaname released him.

"Well, that answers my question then," Nasser said pleasantly, grinning in an unforgivably knowing manner that indicated he had seen Kaname flinch when he reached for him. He appeared to have read that which the younger pureblood's eyes sought to conceal. Somehow, he knew that whether or not it had been true yesterday, as of today, Kaname was fully aware of everything that had transpired between them in the past. "Reliving some pleasant memories last night, hm? Is that why you had trouble sleeping? It's nice to know you remember me after all."

Kaname was shaking inside with rage, but he forced himself to shrug diffidently. "Hardly. I'm afraid our time together was entirely forgettable, Nasser. Now, if you'll excuse me." He stepped around the other vampire and strode firmly away towards the waiting glass doors that let into the lobby of the office complex.

"I know you don't mean that, Kaname," Nasser called after him, his voice musical with amusement. Kaname felt a sickeningly familiar surge of desire slam into him with a vengeance as he angrily tugged open the door and stepped inside. His heart raced and his body burned and Nasser, damn him, was entirely aware of how he was feeling. Hell, any vampire near enough to smell him and hear his pulse knew how he was feeling, including Seiren.

Kaname was so mortified he could have killed something, but at least this time he knew what was happening. He understood now why he was reacting this way. He still could not feel or sense Nasser's pheromones at work directly, but now that he was looking for the symptoms, he could read them in his own reactions. He couldn't seem to check the physical effect Nasser had on his body, no matter how hard he tried, but he _could _refuse to acknowledge it and continue walking purposefully away from the other man without looking back. _Could_ and _did_.

Kaname's sharp ears caught the sound of Nasser's soft laughter following him into the building and he clenched his fists at his sides as he crossed the lobby. Behind him, the large plate glass doors exploded into a rain of silver glass. People at the reception desk jumped to their feet and there were a few startled shrieks, but Kaname swept through the atrium without paying them any heed.

"Seiren," he said simply as they exited the open area and headed for the lift. "Get maintenance to replace that, and tell them to use a better grade of shatterproof glass this time."

She nodded as if this were an everyday occurrence. "Of course, my lord."

Kaname was the picture of calm indifference as he entered his office and sent Seiren off to see to other matters for him. He remained so until the door had closed behind her and he clicked the lock shut with his mind. Then and only then did he slump forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his desk and burying his face in his hands.

Facing Nasser even briefly like that was harder than it should have been. He was a little too fragile still and the other vampire had rattled him. Now that he was safely away, his face burned with humiliation and his heart stuttered erratically. He was a weak, pathetic mess and he loathed himself. He wished Zero were here, and that made him loathe himself all the more. He was far too dependent on the hunter, it was absurd.

Kaname clenched his fingers in his hair and glanced at the phone. Maybe he should call. Just to hear his voice. To hell with how pathetic that made him. It wasn't only his own desire for Zero's comforting presence that he was feeling. There was something else besides his own jangled emotions tugging at him and compelling his thoughts insistently back towards the hunter, but Kaname was too shaken and untrusting of his own feelings to sort out the nature of the inexplicable draw he was feeling in that direction. The pureblood rubbed his neck absently without realizing what he was doing.

He reached for the phone and then pulled his hand back again. He was being too needy and demanding. Zero had said he would call when he could. What if he accidentally distracted Zero in the middle of a potentially deadly situation? He should be focusing back on his work, but he couldn't. There was still that nagging urge he couldn't explain. Something was pushing at him to try to reach his lover. Kaname chewed his lower lip indecisively. Finally, he reached for the phone and dialed Zero's number.

It rang through to voice mail immediately, indicating that the phone was turned off or out of signal. Kaname listened to Zero's voice on the recording and hung up without leaving a message. He wasn't sure if he was relieved or disappointed. Well, that answered that. Zero was still working. He'd said he might be unreachable. Kaname should just quit being a baby and go back to work himself...

His long fingers tapped the phone thoughtfully. On impulse, he dialed another number. He fully expected to be greeted by voicemail again, but to his mild surprise, this time, the call rang through.

* * *

In a small pub somewhere downtown, Toga Yagari was sitting perched on a bar stool with one cowboy boot hooked on the lower rung of the chair and a chilled bottle of beer in his hand, chuckling at the stupid exploits one of his companions was retelling from the man's vast store of misspent youth.

The dark-haired hunter's phone rang and he fished it out of the pocket of his jeans, his eyebrow raising as he saw the name on the display. He took a long swig from the bottle in his hand, figuring he was going to need it before he pressed the phone to his ear.

"What do you want?" he drawled laconically, not particularly pleased at having his evening interrupted by a pureblood vampire, even _this_ pureblood vampire. Yagari took another drink and spun the bottle absently between his fingers on the bar. He and a few of his friends had been at the pub for several hours and he'd already knocked back a fair share of rounds.

Kaname heard the murmur of voices in the background and a whining, rhythmic twang of some kind, both of which suggested that Yagari was in a heavily populated area. He frowned slightly. He'd been wondering if Yagari had been sent on the same run as Zero, but judging from the background ambience that didn't appear likely – at least, not unless the mission involved a crowd of drunk people and some questionable noise passing itself off as music.

"Actually, I was wondering if you were with Zero, but I take it the answer is no," Kaname said in his usual calm, cultured tones which usually managed to piss Yagari off even when that wasn't the intention.

"Nope," the hunter responded, taking another swig from his bottle and then covering his other ear as his friends broke out into noisy laughter about something he'd missed. "And he's missing a good time too. He's a great kid, but you know what his problem is? Too serious. Probably my fault..."

Kaname frowned. "Are you intoxicated? You sound like you are."

Yagari snorted. "Did I _not _just say I was having a good time? So what's the matter, you two fighting again or something? What did you do this time?"

Kaname's glower was almost audible. He always got the feeling like he was talking to a vaguely disapproving in-law when speaking with Yagari. "We are _not_ fighting, and it would be none of your business if we were," he said in cool, crisp, irritated tones. "He was called off on some priority three mission or whatever before I got up and I was simply wondering if you had been called in as well and knew when he might be through. Since you are obviously doing nothing remotely related to _work _however, I will let you go..."

"Whoa, whoa, wait up now," Yagari drawled, brows furrowing as he tried to focus on something that the pureblood had just said. He set the bottle down on the bar and his fingers plucked absently at the brim of his hat where it rested on his knee. "Back it up a step, what are you saying Zero got sent out on?"

Kaname gave a long suffering sigh and tried again, over-enunciating and using small words. "I _said _he was sent on a run somewhere around three pm. Hostage situation with a group of school children and some E's. You didn't hear about it?"

No, Yagari had heard nothing about it, which was odd, but that wasn't what was bothering him. "Yeah, yeah, but what did you say before, about the priority level?"

"He said it was a _'code 3'. _Zero seemed to think that was quite significant," Kaname answered slowly, sounding a bit puzzled now. "I assume that's an emergency code, due to the nature of the situation and there being hostages involved?"

Yagari shoved back his stool and stared at the far wall, the noise of the bar receding from his awareness as he focused in on the conversation with new intensity. "Yeah, something like that," he answered vaguely. "Hey, listen, do you happen to know where exactly it was that he was sent?"

"I can forward you the text he received... why, is something wrong?" a note of alarm had quickly snuck into the pureblood's normally collected voice.

Yagari frowned again, wondering if it was his imagination, or if Kuran seemed to be wearing his emotions a lot more visibly than usual. That couldn't be good. "Nah," he said dismissively, not wanting to have to deal with a panicky and unpredictable pureblood when he currently had more questions than answers. "I just thought I'd head over and see if they needed an assist. The company here is getting old anyway." The chorus of mock-insulted protests that Kaname heard in response to that statement told him that it had been meant for the benefit of Yagari's current companions.

The pureblood rolled his eyes, relaxing a little at the impression Yagari gave that this was all business as usual. "Are you sure that's a good idea? You probably shouldn't even be driving, much less pointing guns at anything."

"That's my worry, not yours. But make no mistake, Kuran, I'm only as drunk as I want to be." There was a sudden, clear edge to Yagari's tone that lent credence to his words.

Kaname shrugged and pulled his cell phone from his jacket, still cradling the desk phone between ear and shoulder. "As you wish. I'm forwarding you the message now. Call me if..." he wasn't sure how to finish that. He wasn't sure what he was actually worried about. He really had no call to be worried at all; at least, no more so than any other time Zero was away on a mission. It was probably just his own unsettled state of mind plaguing him. Still, although he would never admit it, it made him feel marginally better to know that Yagari was going to check up on Zero... even if Zero probably _was_ going to give him hell later for calling in his sensei like this.

"If my darling apprentice has got himself in some bone-headed mess of trouble? Yeah, yeah, I will," Yagari finished for him, his sarcasm evident. "Have a nice night, Kuran. Or day. Or whatever the hell you call it."

Yagari hung up without waiting for an answer. He pushed back his stool and rose to his feet, plucking his hat from his lap and placing it back on his head. He unhooked his duster from the back of a nearby chair and shrugged into it, slapping a handful of bills down onto the bar. "Gotta go," he said simply, excusing himself. The announcement was greeted with groans and a fair amount of ribbing from his companions.

The one-eyed hunter shrugged. "Sorry, no help for it. Gotta check up on my apprentice. You know how kids are, nothing but trouble." He grinned and the others laughed, jokes about his 'parenthood' following Yagari out into the cool, moonlit night as he left the bar and headed for his truck.

Kaname was probably right. He really shouldn't be driving, and normally he would not have. But this wasn't a normal situation. Something was wrong. He didn't know what, but unless Kaname was yanking his chain, something suspicious was going on.

About then the forwarded text came through, making his phone buzz in his pocket. Yagari viewed it quickly.

_Well, shit. _

Kaname wasn't making the message up or misunderstanding what Zero had said, and it didn't look like Zero hadn't been making it up either. Yagari had had the vague hope that Zero was just feeding his lover a story to get out of doing something he didn't want to do. That was one of the reasons he hadn't let on to Kuran that anything was amiss. It would hardly be the first time he'd covered for a friend, but everything about this message looked legit... except for the fact that it couldn't be.

Climbing into his truck, Yagari checked to make sure that his rifle was under the seat before jamming the keys in the ignition and pulling out onto the road. Kaname apparently didn't understand what a level three priority code meant, but he did. It meant that all the hunters in the area would have been paged, not just some of them. It meant that Yagari and the hunter buddies he'd been at the bar with should have been sent the same instructions as Zero. But they hadn't.

Yagari saved the message and punched a number on speed dial. It only took him a minute or two to confirm with dispatch that no emergency situations had occurred within the last 24 hours anywhere in the vicinity.

The master hunter was not one to become easily alarmed. It was possible that there was a perfectly innocent explanation for whatever was going on. Maybe some friends were playing a joke on Zero. He himself had been lured into a surprise birthday party once in a similar fashion. He'd almost shot the people responsible, even after he knew what was going on, but he had never been able to stay angry at Kaien Cross for long.

It was also still possible that Zero had faked the message, since you probably did have to be pretty convincing to pull one over on a pureblood... but he really doubted it. For one thing, Zero was far too serious about his job, for another, he was far too serious about Kaname. The young man just wasn't the deceptive type.

Zero was a damn good hunter, and Yagari was one of the few who knew about the level of vampire power that the young ex-human also possessed but kept hidden. The kid could more than take care of himself, even if something shady _was_ going on... but Yagari was going to check it out anyway. Maybe he was a protective old fool, but they had recently lost a couple of good hunters on what should have been a routine assignment. The two men had yet to be found, and judging by the amount of blood at the scene, Yagari doubted they ever would be, at least, not alive. It served to drive home the point that you could not take anything for granted.

Reaching over, Yagari turned on the car stereo and cranked the music up, rolling down the windows and settling in for a long drive. _If you're __**not **__in trouble, Zero... you will be when I find you. _

* * *

Kaname stared at the phone on his desk thoughtfully. There were a million things he needed to be doing, but he was vaguely bothered by his conversation with Yagari. He could have sworn the man was keeping something from him, but then, the elder hunter had always been difficult to read. Kaname knew that he was not in his most clear or perceptive state right now either. It was quite possible that all he was sensing was that the hunters were up to something, perhaps even something to do with Zero's assignment, and Yagari didn't want him to know the particulars. Zero may trust Kaname with details about his work, but Yagari, perhaps understandably, was as tightlipped as a mute. Still, Kaname knew that if there was one thing he _could _believe, it was that Yagari's protective feelings towards Zero were genuine and he wouldn't willingly let the boy come to harm.

_Or, there's nothing at all unusual going on and you're making mountains out of mole hills because Nasser has you so damn rattled you're jumping at every shadow, _he thought somewhat bitterly. The young pureblood rubbed the back of his neck with a sigh. He knew he was unsettled, paranoid and prone to seeing subterfuge everywhere at the moment. It made it hard for him to trust his instincts.

Seiren knocked at the door. "Kaname-sama? Video link with An'swala has been established," she informed. "Prince Sayyaris waiting for you on screen four in the media conference room."

Kaname straightened in his chair and quickly pulled himself back together. Rising to his feet he tried to run through everything he needed to cover in the upcoming conference. It was an important meeting and he needed to be on his game. He suspected that was at least a small part of why Nasser had shown up just now. He probably knew Kaname was scheduled to talk to the current An'swalan head of state today and was trying to scatter the other pureblood's focus.

Looking much more confident, calm and collected than he felt, Kaname emerged from his office and nodded to Seiren as he passed her. "Thank you, Seiren. I'm on my way."


	24. Bring You Back Home

_A/N: LOL well somehow I managed to make an entire chapter out of a few hours worth of time... *rolls eyes at herself* Apparently I was having too much fun. Sorry, hopefully it doesn't drag too much or anything. _

_As will become apparent later in the chapter *cough* I've obviously borrowed something from the current manga events. However, my take on it, the name I give it, etc. is completely made up and will probably be AU when/if Ms. Hino goes into any more depth on that particular ability. Much like what I've done with Zero's vines, it's sort of like the manga, but with my own twists and interpretations, so don't take anything as canon. Hopefully it's interesting though and nobody minds. I have to admit I just couldn't pass up the opportunity for a few of these scenes. ;) _

_I know, still a lot of questions floating around without answers. Some will come next chapter, and some we're going to need to keep waiting for a little longer. But at least I didn't leave Zero in too terrible a place for too long, right? :) Review responses are in my forum, as usual. _

**Chapter Twenty-Four: "Bring You Back Home"**

The moon was beginning its waning journey, hanging low and drowsy in the starry sky. Even the crickets had fallen mostly silent by now and the loudest sound to break the stillness was the crunch of truck tires on gravel as Yagari pulled off the deserted highway and parked on the sloping shoulder of the road. It was the wee hours of the morning by now, and most of Yagari's buzz had completely faded, replaced by an irritable fatigue that he was trying hard to shake off.

At least he'd _finally _found the place, which had been no easy task. He'd driven by it at least three times now. At first, he thought that it was his tiredness which had caused him to miss the mile marker that was supposed to indicate the rendezvous coordinates for which he was searching. He had passed a marker labeled 82, but then the next sign he saw read 84, so 83 had apparently gotten lost somewhere. Swearing, he'd hung a U-turn in the middle of the highway and retraced his course, looking more carefully.

The elusive mile marker had still not made an appearance, and when Yagari hit the sign for 82 again, he was sure that life was against him tonight. He had reversed course again and the third time proved to be the charm, because on the last pass Yagari's headlights caught on the stump of the broken mile marker post which probably should have held the missing number. The way the post was broken and some visible tire grooves in the earth indicated that it must have been a casualty of either careless driving, or intentional vandalism at some time in the recent past.

Muttering something unintelligible about yahoos with nothing better to do than run over sign posts and make other people's lives difficult, the hunter got out of the truck, taking his flashlight and rifle with him. The night had grown cold and he hugged his leather duster closer around his tall frame as he waded into the tall, tangled grasses that edged the highway. The red beam of his flashlight cast a cone of faint light against the tree line further down the incline. The special light was not as bright as a normal one due to the color cast, but it also did not interfere as much with Yagari's natural night vision. That was important for a hunter. Their eyes were keen, but not vampire keen.

There was no sign of Zero, nor any specific indication that he'd been here. Someone had, though. Even in the dark, Yagari could tell that the grass by the road had been recently trampled by more than one set of feet. Or else the same person had gone back and forth several times. Walking along the upper edge of the slope, near the roadway, Yagari scanned the trees carefully with his flashlight, probing their shadowy depths.

In the cold, desolate darkness of the deserted wilderness, Yagari questioned the wisdom of this excursion. What did he expect to find? If Zero had even made it this far, it would have been over 10 hours ago. Certainly, he would be here no longer and the trail would be cold. He had to wonder how much of his decision to up and drive all the way out here had been influenced by the amount of alcohol he'd consumed before talking to Kaname, and how much had been rational thinking.

Yet, on the other hand, what else could he have done? He had no idea who had sent Zero off on this dubious run or why. The only trail he had to follow was the location of the phony muster point. There was nothing else to go on. After seeing the true remoteness of this area, he found it pretty much impossible to believe that whoever had lured Zero to this desolate location had done so with any good intentions. He had to hope that there was something here that would give him a clue as to what had happened and where Zero might be now.

Yagari sighed, studying the area around him carefully. Having only one eye shot his depth perception to hell and was a significant damper to his ability to see well in the dark. In his line of work, it could have been a career ender. Zero had been too young back when it happened to truly understand how much protecting him could have cost his teacher, but fortunately Yagari had learned to compensate well. He'd trained relentlessly until his aim was perfect again despite the loss of depth. His hunter blood was strong and his keen senses helped make up for his disability at night. However, he still had to be extra careful not to miss things due to his limited field of vision. A nearby vampire he would be able to sense, but a telltale broken tree limb or discarded bullet cartridges were much easier to accidentally overlook.

_Where you here, Zero? What happened? Where did you go? Were you alone? _While these thoughts were passing through his head, the beam of Yagari's flashlight caught and glinted on something in the woods – something shiny and reflective that was out of place in the natural world. He played the cone of light back over the area again, retracing his steps to get a better viewing angle. Yagari was so focused on the glitter in the woods that he was not paying much attention to his feet. He tripped over something hidden by the long grass and stumbled, narrowly avoiding falling. He swore softly, kicking the offending object and shifting his flashlight down to aim at the ground in front of him. It was _really_ proving to not be his night.

He realized that he had tripped over the splintered upper half of the broken mile marker. It must have slid partway down the embankment after having been snapped off on impact. The old, worn sign had been lying face down, hidden by the underbrush. His kick caused the post to roll down the embankment a foot or two, flipping it over and revealing the faded number "83" whose absence had recently given him so much grief. Then he realized with a cold lurch in the pit of his stomach that the overturned post also revealed something else.

Yagari crouched to get a closer look, but he already knew what he had seen. The old wooden post bore Zero's hunting crest clearly imprinted on its surface. The mark glowed very faintly in the darkness. The young hunter must have followed protocol and left his tag when he arrived on what he had obviously thought was a legitimate scene. There was absolutely no doubt then, that Zero _had_ been here.

Yagari felt the uneasy tightness gripping his chest suddenly tense anew as more implications rushed quickly through his keen mind. The post must have been standing when Zero got here. He wouldn't have placed his tag somewhere where it would be easily missed. The charmed imprint would fade away naturally after a while, but only the hunter who placed it could un-set it before then. Could it be a coincidence that someone just _happened _to come along and run this post over afterwards, conveniently hiding Zero's mark from easy discovery? Yagari doubted it.

He made his way cautiously down into the woods and discovered that the shiny object he'd seen before was Zero's bike. It had been hidden under some bushes. It was possible Zero had hidden his own bike... but again, he doubted it. As he looked the scene over more carefully, playing his flashlight across the trodden grass, Yagari gained the impression that whoever had run over the sign post had also walked or dragged Zero's bike down here. It had obviously not been ridden down the embankment or the tracks would have been different.

The notion that some unknown party was so interested in hiding the fact that Zero had been here, or at least in not drawing attention to it, made the last of Yagari's drowsy fatigue disappear. Swinging his rifle across his back and unlatching the quick draw clasp, he hefted his flashlight and made his way deeper into the woods, scanning for further signs of what may have happened here earlier. After a further investigation, he concluded that the people who had broken the mile marker went no further into the woods than necessary to hide the bike. Only one set of tracks penetrated deeper. That person had been walking alone. The size and shape of the few partial footprints were consistent with Zero, as was the fact that they headed away to the west, the direction Zero would have headed if he'd been acting on the erroneous orders he had been given.

As swiftly as he could without risking losing the trail, Yagari began to follow his apprentice's footsteps into the darkened forest. There was no other way for him to find out where Zero had gone from here and what had happened after that.

_Where are you, Zero? What the hell happened? _

* * *

Zero awoke slowly, consciousness returning in gradual, dream-like flickers. His eyes were still shut and he felt both weary and groggy. He was cold._ Kaname must have rolled over and pulled the covers off again. _Zero tried to ignore the chill and remain asleep because consciousness brought with it a faint, but growing ache that his half-aware mind wanted to keep denying. Zero mumbled something inarticulate, but got no response. He tried to reach for either the blanket or his lover, but was met with a cold wash of confusion and disorientation instead when he suddenly became aware that he was sitting, not lying down and he couldn't move his arms.

As consciousness returned more fully, he was aware of the intensifying coldness of his body and the painful throbbing in his head. He ached _everywhere, _except for his fingers, which he couldn't feel at all. Tense shivers ran along his skin, knotting the muscles in his neck and back and making them cramp painfully.

Zero tried to shift, attempting to ease some of the discomfort or at least wrap his arms around himself for warmth. Something rough scratched against his back and prickled his legs. There was something really wrong about how clear and distinct the sensations were against his skin.

With a groan, the young hunter's eyes finally fluttered open. His vision was blurry and distorted and he had to blink a number of times before he could focus and make sense of what he was seeing. It was dark, but the light of the moon twinkled down from above through a canopy of dark, overhanging tree branches which created gaps and voids in the starry heavens. With a start, he realized he was outdoors and with that realization the memory of recent events returned to him.

Panic and the instinct to fight spiked in his chest and Zero attempted to struggle quickly to his feet. The harsh surface behind him caught and scratched at his back and abraded his arms. He could not move from his position. Pain surged through his head and his chilled, hurting body sharply protested against the sudden motion and the abrupt rise in his heart rate.

His teeth almost literally chattering as he breathed the cool night air, Zero stilled. He fought down the instinctive panic gnawing at him and quickly took stock of his situation. He was sitting against the base of a narrow tree in a wooded area. He thought that it was actually the same woods he had been in earlier, but they looked different in the dark and it was hard to be sure around the massive headache which was currently grinding his brain to pulp. His back was pressed against the tree and his arms were pulled behind him, stretched around the base of the narrow trunk and securely bound in place.

Oh... and he was also completely naked, which explained the cold and why he was so hyper aware of the coarse tree bark against his back and the rough ground upon which he sat.

_Great. How utterly freaking craptastic. _

His breath fogged on the chilly night air as he struggled to sit more upright, easing the pressure on his bound arms and the parts of his backside which were painfully numb from his having been unconscious in the same position for so long. He winced at the strange, uncomfortable feeling of the leaves, sticks and pine needles shifting beneath him. He hadn't noticed all the prickly little acorns and miniature pine-cone-like things that were mixed into the composting forest floor before, but he was noticing them _now_.

He tried to probe his bindings, blinking in an effort to make the world stop spinning. He felt a lot worse than he should have given his normal healing rate, especially since the position of the moon indicated he must have been unconscious for hours. The silvery moonlight made the dark bruises forming on his pale skin stand out starkly upon his naked body. His fingers were numb and clumsy in their exploration, but the bindings felt like handcuffs rather than ropes when he probed them. He jerked at the binds ineffectually, trying to snap the chain. It didn't work and he got a painful, jarring shock of pain for his trouble instead. He grimaced, biting his lower lip and pressing his back against the tree in an effort to stay silent as the jolt shot up his arms, made extra painful because of the already tense, cramped state of his muscles.

_Shit! He really couldn't catch a break tonight. _The bastards had used his own cuffs on him, or ones just like them. He bet they had used his though. Hunter gear was pretty distinctive, they wouldn't want to leave anything of theirs behind and besides... binding Zero with his own cuffs was much more humiliating. These restraints were specifically intended to hold vampires so it was no wonder he still felt like crap. The bindings were suppressing his healing factor along with his strength and abilities. If he struggled, or if he tried to use any of his vampire powers, the bindings would send a searing jolt of pain shocking through him as a deterrent. It was how they were designed to operate.

The cuffs were not fastened by conventional lock and key. Rather, they were sealed and unsealed with a charm. Zero tried to invoke that charm despite the awkward angle, but the cuffs only shocked him again for his trouble. He swore none too quietly. He could lock and unlock them just fine normally, but apparently since he was currently _wearing_ them, the cuffs read the attempted hunter charm the same as it would if he'd tried a vampire one. _Damn, stupid things. _Zero was now wishing he hadn't gotten the upgraded version with the advanced tamper guard. Of course, he hadn't exactly expected to be finding _himself _wearing them.

Zero took stock of the situation again, scanning the area around him carefully for something, _anything,_ he could use to try and facilitate an escape. There was nothing in sight except for trees and foliage. _Nothing. _His mysterious assailants had apparently taken everything away with them. His clothes, his gear, his bag, his... Zero's jaw clenched as the terrible realization kicked in. _His gun._ The bastards had taken the Bloody Rose.

That loss hit him hard, bringing with it both the uncomfortable sting of feeling even more violated and defenseless than before, and the angry ache of being robbed of something that had been a part of him for so many years now. He knew it rankled some people in the Association, that a vampire was running around with such a powerful and respected weapon, but the Bloody Rose was _his. _Cross had given it to him and no one had a right to take it away.

He struggled with his bonds, lips compressing as a burning jumble of emotions coursed through him. Whoever did this was going to pay, and he _was_ going to get back what was his. In utter frustration and anger, Zero yanked at the cuffs, growling in rage until the punishing shocks of pain they gave off finally got the best of him, making his already throbbing head spin and the world flicker in muted shades of grey and yellow.

He slumped back against the scratchy tree bark again, his brows furrowed. His ragged breaths frosted slightly on the air. At least his exertion had momentarily warmed him a little, although cold was swiftly leeching back into him from the air and from the chilly ground upon which he sat. He was in no danger of suffering from any kind of exposure, it wasn't _that _cold. But naked and chained in place, it was plenty cool enough to be highly uncomfortable.

He set his jaw, seething silently at the whole situation. Feeling around carefully behind him, he fingered the cuffs, trying to figure out what to do. He didn't want to admit it, but the truth was that he was pretty well screwed. These cuffs were rated for everything short of level A vampires, which essentially meant he was stuck here for who knew how long. Probably until someone found him like this, which was an utterly humiliating thought. He felt his cold skin flush slightly with a sickly heat that did nothing to warm him.

At least he knew he that his absence _would _ultimately be noted. Granted, there weren't many people who would notice if he dropped off the face of the planet, at least not for a week or two, but he knew that Kaname would miss him and come looking long before that. Thank God the pureblood knew where he'd been sent. Still, it could be quite a while before that happened. His lover thought he was on a mission, so he'd try to be patient no doubt, especially after all the grief Zero had given him over the past few years about being over protective and interfering with his work. Kaname was going to be so worried though when he didn't come home before sunup, or call as he had promised. _Shit. The last thing Kaname needed right now was to be worrying about him... or feeling abandoned. _

Zero gave a sharp, frustrated tug at his binds, gritting his teeth to stifle the small groan of pain at the punishment his actions predictably elicited. Sitting around on his increasingly sore butt and waiting was _not_ an option. He had to get himself free somehow.

His searching fingers found a small, roughened concavity in one of the otherwise smooth links that comprised the handcuffs' short chain. Further probing revealed that the link actually seemed to have been bent or crimped in some manner that left the rough groves behind. He had no idea how the cuffs could have gotten damaged like that, but perhaps he could use it to his advantage. Aside from the physical weakness, damage to the restraints meant there was also a chance that the charm would not be as stable as usual. Or so he hoped, anyway.

After a few minutes of scrabbling blindly in the dirt behind him, Zero found and uncovered the top portion of a large rock, sturdy rock that was well buried in the earth and not about to move. A few more minutes and he came up with a smaller, fist sized stone as well. Pulling the chain taut with one arm, he pressed it against the larger rock and wielded the smaller with his other hand, hammering down on the weak link as hard as he could given the awkward angle. He couldn't get much force going and the cuffs shocked him for every blow, but it was the only shot he had. So Zero clenched his eyes against the pain and doggedly kept beating on the chain with the stone, at the same time putting as much torque and stretching pressure on it as he could. He may be weakened, but he was still a lot stronger than a human. He just had to be able to endure the anti-tampering punishment the cuffs inflicted long enough to try and make a dent.

It was a good thing his pain threshold was pretty high because this was not going to be easy.

* * *

Kaname had to admit that he had been hoping Zero would be back by the time he got home from the office, but such was not the case. Night Haven was quietly alive with the quick and efficient activity of the servants going about their duties and preparing dinner for him, but without the presence of a certain silver haired hunter, the house felt strangely empty.

His meetings today had gone as well as could be expected. There were no revelatory new developments, but he knew he needed to be patient with the process and keep inching things along in the right direction. He was agitated and wanted to force things, but he had to be patient and make himself play a smarter game than that. It wasn't easy, given the way he was feeling right now.

Kaname glanced out the window at the low hanging moon. Dawn was only a few hours away. _Where the hell was Zero? _

The hunter had said it might take a while. Kaname _knew _that. It was hardly unusual for him to be gone for days at a time when a mission called him away. Kaname knew that too. But for everything he _knew _Kaname couldn't shake a growing sense of unease. It was probably his own fault. He was overreacting just because he didn't want to be alone.

He called Zero a couple of times but continued to only get his voicemail. He had the same result with Yagari's phone, which was also going straight to voicemail now, indicating that it was either powered off or in an area with poor reception. _Why hadn't Yagari called him back? _He frowned, knowing it was a stupid question. This was _Yagari _they were talking about. He'd rather swallow toads than be chatty with a pureblood vampire. Besides, he'd only asked Yagari to call him if something was wrong, so he should be glad he hadn't heard from him.

Only partially burying his frustration, he tried to focus on getting more work done, but as dinner time passed and the night wore on towards morning with no word from his lover, he found it increasingly impossible to focus. Zero had said he would call if he wasn't going to be back by sun-up. He'd practically _promised. _

Shutting himself in his study, Kaname leaned back in one of his comfortable armchairs. He rested his elbows on the arms of the chair, his finger tips rested lightly against one another, forming a thoughtful steeple as he sought an inner peace he could not find. Giving up, and realizing he'd have no peace until he knew where Zero was, he reached for his lover mentally through their bond. He knew he shouldn't. If Zero _was _close enough for it to work, he'd probably be pissed. They'd already had the _no-mental-tapping-when-I'm-working_ conversation. But surely... just this once... Zero would understand.

Kaname's heartbeat slowed and his breathing became more shallow as he stretched out mentally, _reaching... reaching..._ but finding nothing. His body tensed in silently increasing frustration as he again met with no success. Zero must be physically too far away for them to connect. It wasn't surprising, but it was disappointing.

The pureblood eyes opened and his dark head tipped back against the padded top of the arm chair. He gazed out the open window across from him, the cool night breeze stirring his hair slightly and increasing his restlessness. It would be dawn soon. _Something was wrong. Something was wrong... _the wind seemed to whisper it to him like an omen of doom. He'd not been able reach Zero, but the more he focused on their connection, the more agitated and unsettled he felt. Something didn't feel right and he had no way of knowing if the fault lay with him, or if it came from Zero's side.

He wanted to go look for Zero, but it was a foolish, impulsive idea. True, with his speed he could cover the distance between here and where the hunter had been sent much more quickly than one could by conventional transportation, but there was precious little chance Zero would still be there so many hours later, right? He was completely overreacting. If he left, he'd just miss Zero when the hunter _did _finally come home and all he would have accomplished by rushing out there would be proving to his lover what a clingy, emotional wreck he still was.

Kaname sighed soundlessly, wondering why logic seemed to be having such little effect on his mental processes tonight. None of his very sound arguments could hold any sway over his agitated feelings. He knew it was stupid, and yet it didn't change the fact that he needed to act, to do _something _other than sit here and wait.

Fortunately, for him there was a middle ground. There was a way he could both wait here for Zero, _and_ appease his need for action. The best part was that if Zero returned while he was about it, it would appear that Kaname had been home the whole time and he would not necessarily have to reveal how pathetically anxious he'd been unless he wanted to. Sometimes, it paid to be a pureblood.

Closing his eyes again, Kaname let his breath out slowly. A sense of peace finally settled over him now that the decision was made. Silently, the pureblood stretched outwards from within himself. It felt as if he were looking a very long way away into the distance. Freeing his thoughts, he allowed part of his mind and his body to detach in a manner for which science was still many years too young to provide an explanation. As the fragment of himself that he released spiraled upwards and outwards, it carried with it one clear, overriding thought... _Find Zero. _

If anyone had been out in the garden enjoying the last short span of starlight before the sun should again begin to conquered the sky, they would have seen a dark flock of bats sweep out of one of the open, second story windows. As it was, however, there was no one there to see as the silent swarm spun once over the house before winging their way swiftly away from Night Haven through the inky, pre-dawn air.

* * *

Yagari crouched, the worn ends of his long leather duster causing the dead leaves covering the ground to rustle. He touched the scuffed earth and broken stems lightly with his fingertips, reading the trail. His breath fogged slightly on the dark air. His finely honed internal clock told him that dawn was approaching. None too soon in his opinion. Following Zero's trail in the dark was a tiring and tedious experience. The seasoned hunter was no stranger to long nights spent tracing the movement of his prey through trackless wilderness, but he was still cold, tired and worried.

He was also becoming frustrated. "Damn..." he muttered, biting down with extra vehemence on the unlit cigarette resting thoughtfully between his lips. He wouldn't light up while there was a chance it would announce his presence to any possible un-friendlies in the area, but the familiar shape of it helped keep his urge to kick something at bay. Barely.

The trail he'd been following had become severely muddied. Several sets of tracks crossed here and diverged, going off in different directions. Some were coming, some were going, and some were probably older than others. These tracks could be hours or days old. They could be related or unrelated to Zero's situation. Most frustrating though, was that from vague size and shape, any of them could have _been_ Zero.

Yagari straightened, pondering the dark woods. Which trail did he follow? If he picked the wrong one, it could be hours before he realized the mistake. Despite his restless desire to press forward, he forced himself to take his time and carefully look over everything. He knew better than to make rush decisions.

He thoughtfully rolled his useless cigarette between his fingers, unconsciously wishing he could light it. Ironically, if he were only hunting vampires, he would have. The smoke wouldn't matter to the blood suckers; they'd smell him coming with or without that. It was possible enemies of the non-fanged variety which he did not wish to alert. It was the same reason he had not yet told anyone at the Association about the phony dispatch, and why he was out here alone.

The uncomfortable facts were that whoever had lured Zero out here knew way too much about hunters and how they operated. They had known enough to hide Zero's mark and had been able to mimic an emergency transmission. Hell, maybe it hadn't been spoofed; maybe someone had actually sent it from a dispatch-authorized phone. That was a nasty thought Yagari did not want to consider too hard just yet, but the fact remained that he couldn't be sure who to trust.

Zero was a tricky subject amongst his own kind. He was hardly the first hunter to have been turned over the years... but he _was_ the only one who retained active status as a hunter and not merely as a tamed vampire. And he was certainly the only one to date who openly lived with and was the declared protégé of a pureblood vampire.

Yagari was a realist. He knew that the only reason the Association granted Zero so much latitude was because he was proving himself to be an exceptionally gifted and powerful hunter. There were many hunters who respected his budding skill and strength, and there were just as many who felt he was nothing but an enemy in their midst. Zero's relationship with Kaname complicated the situation by casting a long pall of doubt over where his loyalties lay. Yet, Yagari knew, the pureblood was also the only reason the Association did not dare to take more aggressive actions to guard against the possible threat that Zero's growing power could represent.

_Speaking of Kuran... _Yagari's fingers slid into his pocket and curled around his phone. He hesitated, balanced between conflicting inner prompts just about as difficult to untangle as the physical trail in front of him. He felt it was now pretty safe to assume that he was not being alarmist or reactionary in saying that Zero was caught up in something troubling. _That _meant that he now had to make a choice. The part of him that revolted at the idea of sharing any sensitive information with a vampire was at odds with the part of him that felt he should call Kaname and level with him regarding the possible situation.

It would probably make his life easier in a way, since he bet Kuran could have a dozen vampires combing these woods for Zero within the hour... but then, that's also exactly what he feared because that wasn't a smart thing to do when there were still so many unknowns. If there _were_ other hunters out here somewhere, if they did in fact have anything to do with what was going on with Zero, then filling the woods with over-zealous vampires would create a recipe for disaster. While Yagari would not hesitate to beat the brains out of a fellow hunter if they had intentionally tried to hurt Zero, siccing a pack of vampires on them was a completely different, and entirely unthinkable matter.

Besides, if hunters and non-E vampires started killing each other over Zero, even if it wasn't his fault, it would be incredibly damaging to the young hunter's already tenuous position. In all fairness though, Yagari had to admit that maybe... _maybe _he _could_ make Kaname understand the delicacy of the situation. Kuran was a pain in the ass, but he was usually pretty sensible for a blood sucker. Whether Yagari would admit it or not, his grudging regard for Zero's boyfriend showed in the fact that he was even _considering_ discussing something that might involve his own people with a vampire, an act he would usually nevereven contemplate and would equate almost with treason. Did that make him in some way a turncoat to his heritage and his own society? Sometimes he wondered.

The hunter slowly pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the display. Little white letters told him that he had no signal. It wasn't really a surprise, he was in the middle of nowhere and had probably been out of service practically since entering the woods. He let his breath out slowly, trying not to feel relieved and a little guilty at having his quandary eliminated by technical limitations. He slipped the phone back into his pocket. _Well, that was that._ Now he just needed to pick a trail and hope to hell that he wasn't going off on a wild goose chase.

Yagari froze, suddenly becoming aware that he was not alone. For a moment he was absolutely still, listening to the faint sound of rustling leaves stirred by something other than the wind. Then his hand flashed behind his back, bringing his rifle over his shoulder and cocking it in a blur of motion.

He spun, weapon leveled, only to find that the interloper caught in his sites was not of the two legged variety. A large black animal stood several yards away, watching him with big, keen eyes. Yagari's body tensed because he couldn't tell if it was a wolf or a dog. He knew that there were no wolves native to this area, but there was something about the animal that did not look tame. However, despite its somewhat disturbing size, the creature made no threatening motions. It neither growled at him, nor looked particularly startled or frightened by his presence. Instead it simply gazed at him for a long moment, then dropped its head and resumed sniffing at the ground.

It almost appeared as if the animal had been following his trail. That would have seemed a lot more worrisome if it had looked a little more hungry. The big canine appeared pretty well fed however, and seemed supremely unconcerned by the hunter's presence. Yagari warily lowered his rifle and let it fall back to his side as the wolf/dog passed him, padding quietly across the forest floor and keeping several yards away from him. It's long, bushy tail brushed the leaves quietly and he noted that it was male. It wore no collar, but Yagari thought its coat looked a little too glossy for it to be feral. In any case, its lack of reaction to him suggested that it was in some way used to people, whether or not it was actually domesticated. He finally settled on it being some large breed of dog because it wasn't acting defensive or aggressive enough for a wolf. There was something vaguely uncanny about the creature's ruddy eyes when they had held his a moment ago, but Yagari had more important things to be thinking about right now.

Once he decided the dog was not a threat, his attention shifted away from it and focused back on to the task at hand. He sighed, glancing towards the slowly lightening horizon and then turning back to study the unhelpful marks before him one last time. He started when he suddenly found that the dog was now only a few feet away from him, sniffing at the ground where the tangled trails intertwined. _Damn, _it moved quickand he hadn't heard it approach. Once again his wariness flared, but the animal seemed much more interested in the ground then in him. He wondered if it belonged to one of the people who had made these tracks, maybe a local or a hunter of the normal, human variety.

"Hey now, don't step all over there," Yagari coaxed in a soothing tone, trying to shoo the dog away so it wouldn't further confuse the trail he was trying to follow. The dog lifted its head and looked at him again. It seemed annoyed. Its ears swiveled back, but it didn't move.

"Easy, easy now..." the hunter murmured. "Good boy..." The dog was so close that Yagari reflexively reached down and patted its head, scratching the long, silky ears in a wary attempt to build report. It jerked away quickly with a little snort, but didn't try to bite. The dog tossed his head, snorting again and eyeing Yagari before resolutely going back to nosing the ground. Yagari felt sure that that was the doggy equivalent of giving someone the finger.

The hunter grinned wryly and gave up. "Fine, have it your way. You looking for somebody too?" He rubbed the back of his neck, resisting the urge yawn as he crouched down to touch the scuffed earth one more time, as if it could tell him the things he needed to know.

The sun had begun to rise, casting long, slanting beams of light through the trees. The hunter did not notice that the dog seemed to be avoiding walking directly through any of the beams.

"Damn, I kinda wish I had your nose right now," Yagari admitted, talking mostly to himself, but apparently tired enough that he didn't care if it sounded like he was talking to a dog. "That would really simplify things. I don't suppose you've seen a hard headed, trouble-prone, silver haired kid running around out here somewhere, huh boy?"

The dog's ears pricked up as if it actually understood the question. It bounded off a few yards, sniffed the earth and then lifted its head, staring at the hunter intently before bounding away again. Yagari rose slowly and watched the dog with furrowed brows. He didn't believe much in signs and omens, but it was kind of freaky that the animal was in fact going down one of the trails over which he had been puzzling. Of course, that probably meant it was the _wrong_ trail, but still...

The dog was already a fair distance away. It stopped, looking back at him once more with those intense, strangely intelligent eyes. It obviously expected him to follow. Yagari had worked with dogs before and he would have recognized the signs even if this animal wasn't telegraphing them so clearly. The dog gave a single, impatient bark before turning tail and trotting off quickly down the trail. There was a sense of urgency in animal's graceful, loping stride that tugged at the hunter.

Yagari hesitated a moment. His instincts told him to follow the dog. Wherever it was heading, the trail must be fresh and there was probably a reason it was in such a hurry. Whether or not this trail led to Zero, maybe it would lead him to some answers. Feeling quite sure that he must have seen way too many _"Lassie Come Home_" style movies in his youth, Yagari allowed his instincts to take over and he broke into a jog, following the dog and the trail that it had taken. Honestly, he might as well, it was as good an option as any other at this point. Of course, if it turned out he was just following the damn dog home, he was going feel like the worst kind of idiot ever.

Many miles away, Kaname sat motionless in the armchair in his study, unaware of the growing sunlight that was beginning to creep through the open window across the room from him. His open, unblinking eyes flickered back in forth in small, rapid motions as if he were in a light REM sleep. He was not seeing bookshelves and drapes, he was seeing trees and bushes. The pureblood was perfectly capable of functioning independently from the illusionary creatures he could create, but there was nothing here that needed his attention and there was plenty currently holding it riveted elsewhere.

Intent in his focus, Kaname saw the world through the eyes of the canine form which was best suited for following a trail through woods like these. He was aware that Yagari was now following him. That was good. He wasn't going to wait for the hunter, but it was better to have him along. Kaname wasn't quite as strong in this form as he was in person. One good shot from a hunter weapon, for instance, and he wouldn't be able to reform the illusion without sending another.

Kaname had followed Zero and Yagari's scents from the edge of the woods where he'd seen the elder hunter's truck and the younger's bike. The trail had been hours old. He hadn't actually expected to find much at first and he'd let his shade-form run more or less on auto pilot. Not familiar with the intricacies of hunter practices and protocol, he had not gathered the same worrying implications from the scene as Yagari had. To be honest, he'd not expected the trail to lead him to Zero any time soon, or at all. Although Zero and Yagari's vehicles were still at the scene, it was quite possible that the hunters had left hours ago by some other means of group transportation and would return for the vehicles later. It was one of the reasons Zero found a motorcycle more convenient than a car - his line of work required him to go to a lot of unusual places and follow the turns wherever they took him.

Kaname had been uneasy, but still regarded this as something of an exercise in appeasing his own foolish concerns. However, when he found Yagari out here looking significantly worried and obviously also following Zero's trail, his alarm had spiked anew. If Yagari wasn't with Zero, and he was out here looking for him alone... something was wrong. Kaname just _knew _something was wrong.

The four padded feet of the shape he was inhabiting pumped faster and faster as he all but raced through the woods. He was no longer trying to avoid the growing splotches of sunlight which mottled the forest floor. It was impossible and would hamper his speed too much. It took more effort to keep this form together under the sunlight, and it burned uncomfortably when it touched him, but that didn't matter.

Every now and again he dipped his head to the ground, confirming that he was heading the right direction. It was quite easy for him to follow Zero's trail by scent, in this form or his normal one. He couldn't press into vampire speed without risking losing the trail by accident, but normal high speed for a wolf or a dog was still pretty fast. He could hear Yagari now running to keep up behind him, crashing through the underbrush as they sped through the woods. It was a testament to the hunter's not-quite-human physique that he could maintain this pace.

An old, fallen tree blocked the path. Zero had gone over, but in his current shape it was easier for Kaname to ducked under the choked tangle of brush and tree limbs. He wriggled through the small space, shaking his flanks as the brambles caught and snagged at his long fur. He pulled free and found himself scrambling to catch his balance as the ground dropped away sharply beneath him into a deep but narrow gully. Swift reflexes and four feet helped quite a bit and he easily steadied himself and bounded to the opposite side of the trench in a swift leap.

He quickly picked up Zero's scent again on this side. It began a little further up the embankment than where Kaname himself had landed. The ex-human hunter must have jumped the gully completely, meaning he'd definitely been using vampire speed at the time. There was that other scent here too, the one that had been mingled with Zero's trail for a while now. A third person had taken this same path. Had Zero been chasing them? Or was he the one being pursued? Kaname didn't know, but he _did _know that the other scent had taken the same long jump Zero had, so he or she was also a vampire.

The pureblood was tense with apprehension and urgency, but he made himself pause, looking back the way he had come and barking a warning to Yagari. The hunter would go over the top of the obstacle, but he didn't have the advantage of vampire speed and reflexes. If he wasn't prepared for the drop on the other side he could twist or break an ankle, which was an added problem Kaname didn't need.

Yagari slowed his full tilt rush as he clambered over the fallen tree and saw that the dog had stopped and was barking at him. That momentary hesitation gave him enough time to see the drop before he launched himself over the edge. Moving carefully, he navigated the obstacle swiftly and once more gained his canine companions side. There was no mistaking the fact that the dog had intended to warn him and the hunter was firmly convinced now that it must be a trained service animal of some kind.

"Thanks, boy," he said a bit breathlessly. He was breathing hard from their long run, but he patted the dog's head approvingly.

Kaname reluctantly allowed the contact this time. It was weird to say the least as Yagari unconsciously ruffled his glossy fur in much the same way the pureblood had often seen him muss Zero's hair, but they didn't have time for him to let the other man know who he really was. It would cause too much of a reaction from the hunter and necessitate explanations on which he didn't want to waste time at the moment.

Loathe to pause much longer, Kaname quickly turned and darted off along the trail again. Yagari sighed and took off after him. "...and we're back to running," he muttered under his breath. "Okay Fido, okay, I'm coming..."

* * *

Piercing rosy sunlight bloomed at the horizon, over the tops of the distant trees beyond the clearing. Zero squeezed his throbbing eyes shut against the growing sliver of light, feeling the prickle of it creep across his exposed skin. He had been positioned facing east, probably intentionally. It was the least of his worries at the moment, however.

His body was shaking from something other than the receding chill of the night. His heart raced raggedly while his breath caught and hitched. A sheen of cold sweat covered his body. He'd been fighting with his binds for what felt like an eternity. The constant pain and assault from the cuffs had done him no favors. The unforgiving metal circles had also cut into his wrists as a result of his efforts, sending hunter poison pumping through his veins and wreaking further havoc on his injured body. The chains were slick now with his blood, but Zero stubbornly persisted in his task and that determination was finally paying off.

He twisted his wrists hard, stretching and straining the critically weakened chain behind him until it finally gave. His arms jerked apart at the sudden release, his shoulders screaming at the motion. He all but tumbled forward, fumbling to catch himself on the damp ground.

His exhilaration at being free was tempered by the fact that the broken manacles were now sending a steady, shrieking pain searing up his arms from his bloodied wrists. For a moment Zero curled on the ground in a fetal position, almost sobbing as he struggled for control.

His fingers pried uselessly at the cuffs, fingers digging painfully into his bloodied wrists as he struggled not to scream. He knew it was no good, but the reflex to try to remove the source of pain was too strong to fight. Finally he made himself give up because the attempt was only making things worse. Curling his wrists in to his chest, he rocked on the ground, struggling to breathe deeply and find a place above the pain. He had to accept the physical sensations and float above them. He had to find that place inside him that functioned beyond his body and stay there so he could push his way through this. Years of fighting blood lust had taught him how to find that place and Kaname's training over the past few years had accentuated his capacity for control.

The damn cuffs were doing their job far too well, but fortunately for him, not quite well enough. The fact that they'd been shocking him for a long time now had both drained their energy reserves and to a certain extent dulled him to the pain. Despite the agony, they were not reacting as badly now as they should have when the chain was broken and he knew it. He should have been immobilized no matter how strong his will was, but instead he managed to struggle to his feet, holding onto the tree for support.

The overly bright world spun dizzyingly around him and he held onto the rough bark desperately, pressing his forehead against it as he struggled to find his balance. Pins and needles burned in his cramped legs and his numb feet as sensation returned to his extremities.

The thought that he was never going to trust this piece of his gear quite as much again flittered incongruously through his slightly hazy mind. He shouldn't have been able to escape. Those cuffs were meant to hold vampires, and he shouldn't have gotten away no matter how much he tried. In his pain and exhaustion fogged state, it almost bothered him. The only way this could have worked, short of his being someone as powerful as Kaname, which he wasn't, was because the cuffs must have been compromised ahead of time.

His breath shuddered on the cool air as he numbly examined one end of the broken, blood-slicked chain. These were definitely his cuffs, he recognized what was left of them. His wrists were pretty torn up, coating the manacles in crimson. He'd mangled the silver metal pretty good with the rock and his vision was blurring, so it was impossible for him to tell if his guess about the tampering was correct, but he felt sure that that scraped dent he'd felt earlier had not been there last time he'd checked his gear. _When was that? _He thought it must have been shortly before the Onyx nightclub incident. He'd left his gear in the parking lot of that scene, hadn't he? He realized he'd not checked any of it when he returned home, just put it back in his closet. He'd been distracted by what had happened with the Thetados vampire and the ongoing situation with Kaname.

Someone _could _have tampered with his gear then, although it didn't really make sense. Why would they? Were they trying to just get him in trouble... or get him killed? It had accidentally helped him now, but it would have been really bad if it had been a dangerous vampire he'd had cuffed, instead of them being used on he himself. Perhaps he was being paranoid, but then again, perhaps that was understandable given recent events.

Focusing on this rather trivial mystery helped Zero get through the first few moments of misery as he dealt with the result of breaking the cuffs. His head was starting to clear now and he could focus back on more important matters. Whatever had happened with the cuffs, he wasn't going to question the only bit of good fortune he'd had tonight. He was free and now he needed to get moving.

Resolutely, Zero pushed away from the tree. Everything in him cringed and protested sharply at what lay ahead of him now. He felt like crap and he was in the middle of nowhere. He'd come out here at vampire speed and it had taken a while. Robbed of strength and speed, it was going to take him most of the day to walk his way out of here back to the road. Under complete daylight. With no clothes and no idea what he was going to do once he got to the road. Even if his bike was still there, he didn't have the keys anymore. _Oh God... _Zero pressed his eyes shut, trying to swallow his nausea. He had no idea how he was going to make it far enough to get out of the woods in his condition, trying to think beyond that was despairingly bleak. The idea of having to walk naked down the road for God knew how long before someone either stopped for him, or more likely called the police and had him picked up, was nauseating. But he had no choice. He couldn't stay here.

Staggering from tree to tree for support and feeling a million years old, Zero stumbled away from the clearing, retracing his previous steps. He regulated his rapid, shallow breathing as best he could and tried to focus on how terribly inconvenient it was that there was nothing around here to use for clothing. They always showed people artistically wearing leaves in paintings and what-not, but the reality was there wasn't any way to make those stick and he certainly didn't have the energy to spare in trying. Really, this was like one of those bad dreams where you were walking down a crowded street or standing in the supermarket and suddenly discovered that you had inexplicably forgotten to dress before leaving home. Yes, nightmare described this situation all the way around. His blood burned when he imagined his attackers sitting around somewhere and laughing at his expense as they imagined him trying to get himself out of this mess. He was going to bust some heads when he found out what moronic idiot thought putting him through this was _funny_.

The forest went on ahead and stretched out behind him in an endless ocean of earth tones. It was like being adrift at sea. The rising sun outlined the verdant leaves in lines of gold and ocher. It would have been beautiful under other circumstances. To Zero, however, it merely felt like hell. As time bled together, clumped up and spun away into a miserable eternity, his world narrowed down to the monumental task of continuing to push tenaciously forward through the trackless woodlands. Scrambling through bracken and picking through tangled brambles that came up to his chest weren't terribly fun under normal circumstances, but given the current situation... well, he decided that there were some very definite reasons why you didn't normally try to make your way through a forest in the buff.

He knew he'd lost the trail some time ago, although he didn't want to admit it. It hadn't been much of a trail to begin with and every damn tree looked the same out here. Thanks to his injuries, his internal sense of direction was unreliable at best and every time he had to divert and find a path around some obstacle he had been able to easily climb or jump over on his way out here, he got further and further turned around. Somewhere in the distance he thought he heard a dog barking and unconsciously adjusted his course towards the sound.

His head burned but his body still felt cold, despite the prickly pools of sunlight that he passed through every so often. The undulating green expanse around him rustled and whispered in the wind, alive now with the calls of hundreds of tweeting, screeching, chattering morning birds which confused his senses and seemed too loud in his aching head.

Masked by his headache and the avian chatter and robbed of his normally advanced hearing, Zero did not notice the footsteps and rustles of movement ahead of him. The young hunter scrambled up a small hill only to suddenly find himself almost face to face with his an older man and a large black dog who were ascending the hill from the opposite direction at a quick clip.

Zero stumbled back several steps, trying for a defensive stance but almost slipping down the hill he'd just ascended instead. He was extremely vulnerable right now which made him automatically wary before his brain had a chance to process who it was he was seeing. He reached out and grabbed onto the nearest tree for support, struggling not to lose his balance on the incline.

"Whoa - what the hell? Zero?"

Zero was feeling bad, but not badly enough to be hallucinating, so he knew that however unlikely it may seem, it must actually _be_ Toga Yagari who was standing before him, looking at the younger hunter like he'd just tumbled out of the sky.

"Sensei!" Zero felt an embarrassing swell of relief at seeing the familiar face, which was quickly followed by an even stronger swell of humiliated embarrassment as he remembered the state he was in. Instinct told him to try to cover himself, but weary shock prevailed, along with the fact that if he let go of the tree he was holding onto, he'd probably fall. It wouldn't have done him any good anyway, there was no hiding the mess he was. All he could do was stare at Yagari in relieved and slightly mortified shock, his pale cheeks flushing a deep pink. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you, what do you think?" Yagari returned, still utterly surprised and slightly disconcerted at finding Zero like this. He stepped forward in concern, placing a steadying arm on his apprentice's trembling shoulder. The kid looked like he was fit to fall down where he stood. "Are you okay? What the hell happened to you? What the hell happened to your _clothes_?"

Zero looked away, suddenly finding himself reluctant to answer those questions. Agonized shame swirled through him - shame that he'd been trapped, that he'd let this be done to him, that he'd lost his weapon, that his own kind hated him for what he was... and that he was something _to _be hated.

Neither hunter had been paying much attention to the dog since seeing one another, so neither of them had noticed the way the creature had frozen in horror when it caught sight of Zero stumbling out of the woods bruised, bleeding... and _naked. _Distressed, terrified ice churned in Kaname's stomach, battling with an equally painful surge of hot, seething rage. His control wavered for a moment under the onslaught of emotion and he almost lost hold of his canine avatar. Back in Night Haven, the windows in Kaname's study popped out one by one, but he barely noticed.

When Zero's ashamed gaze dropped away from Yagari, he found it coming to rest on the dog he'd seen before and then promptly forgotten about. He didn't know Yagari had gotten a dog... although, to be honest it looked more like a wolf. It was a beautiful creature, but the way it was staring at him was incredibly unsettling, not the least because it was somehow _familiar. _

"I-I'm fine, Sensei," Zero lied unconvincingly, strangely unable to take his eyes off the wolf-dog. His throbbing head was not able to take the extra surges of emotion which were suddenly running through him and spiking his heart rate. His aching legs felt weak. "It was nothing, just... just stupid..." The world tilted dizzily. Zero found his knees giving out and the gravity taking him before he even had a chance to realize that he hadn't finished his sentence.

Yagari had been in the middle of shrugging out of his coat so he could give it to his apprentice, but he stopped, his grip quickly tightening when Zero started to go down. He guided the motion so that Zero didn't tumble to the ground but instead folded gently to his knees and then rolled to a sitting position. He quickly bent over the younger man, propping Zero's back against the tree and gazing at him with deep concern. He tilted Zero's chin up, cupping it lightly in one hand and trying to get the dazed amethyst eyes to look at him. "Whoa, hey, Zero? Zero!"

Kaname regained control of himself and bounded to Zero's side. He was too shaken to switch forms just yet, especially under the full light of the sun, but Zero's obvious weakness and the shame coloring his features drew Kaname to him like a magnet, making his chest burn fiercely with the need to offer comfort.

"Hey!" Yagari protested as the dog suddenly wriggled between he and Zero, pushing him aside in its urgency to get to the younger hunter. The creature seemed incredibly distressed as it wrapped itself protectively around the naked youth, it's long, graceful tail tucking up along Zero's side.

Zero started as the large, warm body pressed against him. The dog's fur was incredibly soft and unexpectedly soothing against his chafed, abraded skin. The animal partially lay, partially sat across his lap, somehow managing to not put too much uncomfortable pressure on him while at the same time curling its supple body around his waist and chest in a manner that both warmed his cold body and protected his modesty. Zero loved animals and they usually responded pretty well to him, despite his being a vampire, but these actions seemed far too intelligent and deliberate for a dog.

The silky, furry side pressed against his stomach. He could feel the animal's long ribcage expanding and contracting as it breathed and the steady, rapid thumping of its heartbeat, which inexplicably seemed to fall instantly into sync with his own. The creature craned its flexible neck around, tenderly and worriedly licking the bruised scrapes on Zero's chest, shoulder and chin. The action actually made the damaged skin feel a little better and as the warm, gentle tongue lapped at his neck in a _very_ familiar manner, the hunter felt a funny little thrill of suspicion shoot through him.

_No... it couldn't be. _The dog was obviously trying to help him and out of reflex he cupped the long face between his hands, petting its head and scratching behind its ears. The dark head cocked to one side, leaning into his touch in an affectionate and distinctly recognizable manner. The long pink tongue licked his palm and then a warm, moist nose pressed against it like a kiss.

Zero's eyes widened as he looked down into the worried garnet gaze which peered up at him with such tender, sentient concern. He _knew_ those eyes. He knew the presence and manner that clung to the dog and the unmistakable scent that was finally ringing the right bells in his aching head. The shape had completely thrown him at first, but as impossible as it seemed, he suddenly felt certain that he _knew_ who this was.

Yagari had not quite figured it out yet, and it worried him when the dog leapt up on Zero like that, pushing him back against the tree. Animals were not usually so friendly with vampires, and even though Zero was often the exception to that rule for whatever reason, he wasn't so sure it was a great idea to have a big dog he didn't know tromping all over Zero in his weakened state.

"Hey! Hey, cut it out, you. Get off him," Yagari remonstrated, grabbing the dog by the scruff of its neck and dragging backwards, trying to give Zero some space.

The dog rounded on him in a blink, jerking its head away from his grasp without ever leaving its position on Zero's lap. Splaying its legs and digging with the ferocity of a mother bear protecting a cub, it growled at the elder hunter. Dark gums pulled back to show glistening rows of sharp teeth that quickly made Yagari go back to thinking it might be a wolf after all. Then he saw the dog's eyes flash a uniquely distinctive kind of red and he went for his gun.

Zero felt the dog's low, threatening growl rumble in its silky ribcage. The lean, muscular frame tensed defensively under the impetuous of protecting his mate and his right to be close to him. Zero saw Yagari react too, going for his gun when the elder hunter finally seemed to realize that something was not normal about the animal.

"No!" Zero wrapped his arms protectively around the dog, his fingers curling into the soft, lush fur. He tilted his head so that it rested alongside the dark, angular one beside him, his cheek rubbing the side of the dog's tufted ear, ensuring that Yagari could not risk taking a shot at the creature without hitting him too. "It's okay! Sensei... this isn't a dog. It's... it's Kaname!"

Zero knew that sounded stupid, but had to trust that Yagari would put the pieces together before deciding he was completely insane or suffering from head trauma.

Kaname ached when he felt the weak way Zero's body trembled against him as the young hunter held him close, both of them bent on protecting the other. Trusting Yagari enough to know he wasn't a threat once he knew Zero was in no danger, Kaname gave the elder hunter no further thought. He turned back to his lover, licking Zero's face gently and whining softly in his throat in dismay over his injuries. It was the only way he could express himself in this shape, since these vocal cords were not suited for speech. He could change them of course, but the sunlight was draining him and he needed to save his energy for what he knew he was going to need to do next.

Zero's blush deepened as the realization sunk in that this really _was_ Kaname in some shape or form who was now covering him and pressed against his naked body, licking him attentively - in front of Yagari to boot. Although, admittedly, it was much less kinky than it would have seemed otherwise since, well, his lover was currently a _dog_ and licking people was kind of what they did. The fact that Kaname _was_ currently a dog hung Zero's mind up slightly and made it spin in confused little circles, even though he already knew the explanation for what he was seeing. It was somewhat shocking to see it step out of the realm of theory and into the realm of reality.

The Kaname dog seemed so incredibly anxious and tender that Zero found himself reacting naturally despite the weirdness of the situation. He stroked Kaname's head and ears and rubbed his warm, muscular sides, scratching the soft stomach affectionately before he could stop himself. It was weird if he thought too much about it, but Kaname was currently in a dog's shape, so it seemed most natural to interact with him as one would an actual member of the canine family. "It's okay, I'm okay, really," he whispered softly.

Yagari lowered his gun and put it away again. He watched the dog worrying over Zero in a distinctly familiar fashion and rolled his eyes. Now that he was looking for it, he could see the faint resemblance in mannerism and appearance that the dog shared with Kuran. It explained a hell of a lot about the creature's unusually self-aware behavior. It also explained why the dog looked like it had wanted to tell Yagari to f-off when he petted it earlier. Realizing that he had _petted_ Kuran and called him a 'good boy' was thoroughly disturbing and made Yagari feel a little warm._ Freaking, freaky vampires! _

"It's a shade. It's a damn _shade_," Yagari fumed quietly, not at all happy to have been taken in by that particular little pureblood trick. Although in his defense, he had never seen a pureblood shade up close before and according to everything you heard about them, they could in fact seem like completely normal, real animals when it suited them. Yagari wasn't sure how Zero had figured it out so quick, but maybe it was a vampire thing. He shrugged out of his coat as he had started to do earlier and draped the long duster around Zero's trembling shoulders.

Zero slid into the warm leather gratefully, shifting and clutching it closed around his naked body. He nodded both in thanks and in confirmation of what the other man had said. He was not surprised that Yagari understood. His teacher was in fact the one who had told him about that peculiar ability of Level A vampires, many years ago when he was a kid.

Purebloods could create "shades", which were essentially living avatars in the shape of other creatures. Bats were the stereotype, but as far as Zero knew there were no particular limit to the type of form that could be taken. The shades usually acted as eyes and ears for the vampires, who could choose to endow them with as much or as little of their own consciousness as they desired, depending on the task. It was one of those things you learned about but never really got to see in practice. Because shades were only a temporary, artificial creation, they did not register as a vampire in a hunter's senses, so unless the fake animal behaved oddly or morphed in front of you, you weren't likely to know whether you'd seen one or not.

Kaname shifted easily to allow the movement of Zero slipping into the coat. He grabbed the supple leather carefully in his teeth and helped pull it a little more snugly around his lover, earning him another affectionate pat from the injured hunter. Zero couldn't help smiling at him. It was kind of unbelievable to see something like this right in front of you. The shade looked and functioned a lot like a real dog, but it felt and behaved very much like Kaname.

Zero winced as he slid his raw arms through the sleeves of the coat. The broken, punishing handcuffs were still locked around both his wrists and they burned painfully. Kaname noticed that his lover was favoring the injuries and dipped his head, licking at his torn, bloody wrists. When his tongue brushed over the ring of silver embedded in the wounds, Kaname's head jerked back with a soft little yelp. It felt like he'd just licked the live, open end of an electricity cable. He may not register as a vampire in hunter senses right now, but he still had most of his inherent strengths and all of his inherent weaknesses. Hunter craft would hurt him just as badly as Zero. Realizing with horror that what he had felt might be what Zero was feeling constantly, he went for the cuff. Biting at it as carefully as he could, he tried to break it with his teeth and his will, despite how much the effort hurt him.

"No, no, Kaname don't!" Zero pulled his wrist away quickly. He almost shook with pain, but stroked the dog's ears soothingly. There was no getting the cuffs off that way and he could tell the contact was hurting Kaname, perhaps worse even that it was currently hurting him. The dog's snout looked as if it had been deeply singed where the charmed metal had touched him and Zero wondered if his lover's shade was more vulnerable than the pureblood himself. Kaname gave a low, unhappy growl, but Zero kept petting him reassuringly, murmuring that it wasn't necessary.

The young hunter turned his gaze up towards Yagari. "Master, can you get these off?" he whispered, holding up one wrist hesitantly. He was dying to get rid of the cuffs, but was for some reason hesitant to draw his teacher's attention to them. The fact that they could be used against him like this was humiliating, as was the fact that he'd let someone do this to him with his own gear. _He was such a moron. _

Yagari saw the problem at once and quickly took a knee next to Zero. He held the young man's arm in one hand, pushing up the sleeve of the too-large coat his apprentice was now wearing so he could assess the situation. His brows knit grimly. Zero's wrists were a mess and ugly black lines were running up his forearms, away from where the broken, charmed restraints were poisoning his blood. It was not a pretty sight and Yagari discovered that he completely and utterly hated whatever son of a bitch had put these on Zero and left him like this.

Kaname was still pressed protectively against Zero and he watched Yagari work attentively. The elder hunter took Zero's wrist between his large hands, one on top, one below. He murmured several soft words and after a few seconds of concentration there was a soft clicking sound. Yagari drew his hands away, taking the now opened and deactivated cuff with him.

It seemed so easy when he did it, but Kaname knew that neither he nor Zero would have been able to open them at this point without a great deal of difficulty and pain. That was of course, the intention of how they had been made. He felt honestly glad and grateful that Yagari was here to make this as quick and painless as possible for Zero. He shifted out of the way a little as Yagari switched sides and repeated the procedure on Zero's other wrist.

Zero let his breath out in relief once the broken restraints were gone, sagging forward slightly against Kaname's back. He hugged the Kaname dog tightly, breathing raggedly into his fur in a manner that gave away just how much pain he had been in.

Yagari was completely aware of what Zero must have been going through and he ruffled the boy's silver hair gently and affectionately as he rose back to his feet. The kid had an incredibly impressive amount of control and pain tolerance to have still been functioning like he was with those things in place. He wished that the damned losers who put Zero down for his vampire 'weaknesses' could see past their own noses enough to glimpse the young man's incredible strength of spirit. It had taken him a while, but he sure had.

Kaname shifted in Zero's arms, gathering his strength. Shades did not usually walk openly during the light of day. It was already taking significant effort to maintain this shape as the sun rode high up the morning sky. Changing shapes, much less transporting others, was going to take a lot of concentration. That was all right, though. He knew he could do it, and he wanted to get his lover home swiftly so he could care for him properly. The idea of Zero having to walk his way out of these woods for miles and miles in his condition, even with Yagari and Kaname helping him, was absolutely unthinkable.

Under the guiding force of Kaname's will, the shape of the dog in Zero's arms began to change. It shifted and flowed, un-forming like a living shadow. Zero was startled and let go, leaning back against the tree with wide, confused eyes.

Yagari started, stepping back a pace. "Whoa! Kuran, you could warn a body..."

"All right then. I suggest you both inhale. Now." Kaname's calm voice came from somewhere within the spreading, illusive darkness before the shadow suddenly burst apart into a hundred fluttering, leathery wings. The bats seemed less solid than the dog had been. Their forms blurred and merged and broke apart only to blur and merge again like a rippling hallucination as they streamed outward around the two hunters, enfolding them in a swirl of winged darkness that somehow expanded at the edges, wrapping them in a sheet of shadow.

Zero felt them surround him in a rippling, fluttering tide and for a moment he was afraid. He could feel something happening to him. It was not pain... he didn't know what it was. There was no understandable way to describe the sensation. It was as if he were suddenly soaring skyward, becoming one with the fluttering darkness around him, no longer holding any sense of shape or form. It was as if the supposed laws of physics had suddenly stopped applying and that which seemed real and concrete was no longer so. Perhaps only butterflies, who went to sleep caterpillars and awoke in a new and unimaginable form could have been fit to understand what Zero felt in those brief moments.

At first Zero struggled, fighting the strange, almost terrifying loss of self that seemed to bloom around him. Then he felt more than heard, Kaname's voice echo through him. _Trust me, Zero. _Kaname's presence folded completely around him, merging with his in a way that was somehow as familiar as the meeting of their minds, and Zero found he wasn't afraid anymore. He relaxed and stopped struggling. He did trust the pureblood. Kaname wouldn't hurt him. He spread his arms, his eyes closing and head tipping back in silent acceptance. Letting go of his natural instinct to fight the strange sensations, he surrendered himself to the swirling darkness, letting Kaname take him, letting the pureblood's consciousness enfold him and sweep him up, up and away.

The cloud of bats broke apart with an unearthly chattering sound. They streamed skyward in a rush of leathery wings and the only trace of either Kaname or the two hunters left in their wake was Yagari's indignant shout of protest hanging in the air beneath the gently waving tree branches in the now deserted woods.


	25. Gathering Storm

_A/N: This chapter didn't get as far as I would like, but I'm trying to avoid having another monster chappy, so please forgive the fact that it doesn't cover a ton of ground. Next chapter things will start hopping again. As a cryptically unhelpful side note... things are not necessarily what they appear. :D_

**Chapter Twenty-Five: "Gathering Storm"**

Yagari was still cursing when the cloud of bats unfolded, depositing the two hunters in front of the fireplace in Kaname's lush study. The fire flickered and danced as it was fanned by their whooshing arrival. The shade creatures spun for a moment as if following an invisible updraft before they streamed in a graceful rush back towards the tall figure standing beside the desk.

Zero blinked, feeling disoriented and breathless as he realized he was no longer sitting on the ground surrounded by trees, but was instead sitting on an expensive Persian carpet in the middle of Kaname's large study. The dark mahogany furniture, the neatly arranged bookshelves and the glowing fireplace all interjected themselves into his awareness with a comforting sense of familiarity. The thick daytime blackout shades were pulled across all three of the room's large windows, but Zero noticed there was glass on the floor beneath them. He suspected they had most likely been victims of Kaname's reaction to finding him the way he had and the thought fluttered through his mind that Seiren or Izumi had probably already discretely called to have them replaced. He was pretty sure they must have the window repair shop on the house phone's speed dial by now.

He was curiously out of breath and found himself panting softly for air as his muddled, spinning thoughts tried to make sense of what had just happened. Zero knew that Night Haven was many miles away from the woods where they had been previously, but he had no memory of how he had gotten from there to here. The journey could not have actually been instant - Kaname was many things but he wasn't a teleporter. In some way, Kaname's bats must have transported him, but _how _was impossible for him to guess. Had they had carried him? Had he physically merged with them somehow? Or was it something else entirely? He had no answers and he didn't know how much time might have passed in transit. To him, it was as if he had simply blinked and now he was here. The only toll that the journey had seemed to take on him was the strange lack of oxygen in his lungs. Probably why Kaname had told them to inhale, he supposed.

Zero hugged Yagari's coat closed around his lean form. The carpet felt soft under him after the roughness of the forest floor. He had never experienced anything quite like this before, it was all rather fantastical and he was still trying to absorbed the shock. Despite what he knew in theory, he'd never really considered that Kaname could do these things. It was so easy to forget that there was not a single drop of human blood in his lover's veins and that they only _looked _like they were members of the same species. Things like forced Zero to face that reality all over again. He should have been disturbed and weirded out... but oddly, he wasn't. Not this time.

Maybe it was because he was disoriented and suffering from both blood loss and dehydration as a result of his recent ordeal. Maybe it was because he was too relieved to be home and at not having to face the rest of that hellishly long journey through the woods which he'd been dreading. Or, maybe it was just because no matter how completely inhuman Kaname's abilities might make him seem at this moment, Zero was no longer capable of looking at the pureblood like he was some terrifying creature. Even if he was. Pureblood vampires were frighteningly alien beings, that could not be denied, but for better or worse Zero simply no longer saw Kaname in that light. So, despite what he might have otherwise expected, Zero's overriding feelings in those few moments after finding himself suddenly sitting in Kaname's study were merely ones of surprise and perhaps a bit of wonder. _Honestly...? That was seriously cool. _

Yagari, on the other hand, seemed _completely_ weirded out and disturbed by what had just happened. He leaned forward as he gasped for air. One hand pressed to his chest and one gripped his knee as he all but doubled over. He had obviously fought the transition of shapes pretty hard and it had made the journey a lot rougher for him than it had been for Zero. "Shit, Kuran! Don't _ever _do that to me again! I swear I will shootthe next shade of yours that comes near me!"

Zero looked up to see the last of the bats flooding back into Kaname's body, merging with him in a manner that was both a little disturbing and a little awe-inspiring at the same time. It was like watching one bead of rain on a window pane absorb another. For a moment the two were distinct entities, then they merged and it was as if there had been only one shape all along.

Kaname seemed to find what was happening completely natural and even as the last of his shades reabsorbed into his body he was already moving forward across the room. He picked up a blanket from the back one of the arm chairs near the fire and knelt, draping it over Zero. He wrapped it around his shoulders, over Yagari's long duster, giving the young hunter further warmth and modesty protection.

"Fine. Next time I'll leave you in the woods and let you walk all the way back out yourself," Kaname retorted to the elder hunter in cool, distracted tones, his attention fixed on Zero. Honestly, he probably should have done just that. He'd known Yagari wouldn't take kindly to that mode of transportation, but he'd been too worried about getting Zero back here to think straight and had simply scooped up everyone present. It wasn't like it was _easy_ for him to transport two people in broad daylight that way, especially when one of them was fighting him tooth and nail the whole time, but he doubted it would improve Yagari's mood to point out how much strength such an act took out of him.

Turning back to Zero as he crouched before him, Kaname cupped the young man's dirty, bruised cheek. It was a relief to be able to touch him with his real skin.

"Zero, what happened?" he asked softly. There was an agony of tender fear and concern in his gentle eyes. His gaze flickered towards where Yagari was hovering nearby and then back to Zero. The question was obvious in silent expression. _Do you want him to leave first? _

Zero bit his lower lip, then winced because his lip was still split and swollen from the beating he'd taken. He knew what Kaname feared. The fact that they'd found him naked and bleeding had to be making the pureblood think of one very distinct possibility given his own recent trauma. It was, however, thankfully not something that Yagari had apparently considered yet and Zero kind of wanted to keep it that way. This whole situation was humiliating enough as it was.

"I'm _okay_, Kaname," he repeated quietly, hoping his lover got the message without him needing to spell out the fact that he hadn't been raped.

Zero's fingers bit harder into the leather of the coat he was still clutching around him. He looked down at his hands. In domesticated surroundings now, it was much more apparent how filthy he was. Dried blood and dirt clung to his skin and he felt gritty in places that normally didn't get gritty.

Kaname thought that Zero's body language and his messed up face suggested that he was anything _but _okay, but he did understand what Zero was trying to tell him and some of the painful knots in his chest eased a little. Still, Zero had obviously gone through something horrible.

"The run was a phony," Yagari offered the little he knew when it looked like Zero was having trouble knowing where to begin. His more paternal instinct wanted to let the kid rest before asking him a lot of questions, but the practical side of him wanted to find out whose ass he was going to soon be kicking into the next county. "The Association never sent those orders to you, Zero."

Kaname's mouth hardened into a tight, grim line as the understanding of what Yagari was saying sunk in. "You _knew_ that? Why didn't you tell me?" his voice was quiet and his eyes lethal as he glared up at the elder hunter. He would cut the man a lot of slack for Zero's sake, but not when it came to his lover's safety.

Yagari's return glare was steely and defensive. "I didn't_ know_ it until after I was off the phone with you and I wasn't _sure _until I was already out there," he said stubbornly.

Zero reached out and caught the pureblood's wrist in his hand before Kaname could reply, holding onto him. Kaname's gaze quickly returned to his lover and he saw the silent plea on his face. He placed his other hand over Zero's and breathed deeply, forcing the anger to flow away from him. Yagari had done whatever he thought was right. Kaname might not agree, but it was a moot point. Zero was what mattered and he obviously did _not _need to have his lover and his teacher fighting right now.

"It was a trap," Zero said quietly, his eyes darting from Kaname to Yagari and then back again. "I chased a vampire through the woods, but it led me into a charm net. They activated my tattoo so I couldn't fight." Zero's free hand crept up to press self-consciously against the marked side of his neck. He was trying to be matter-of-fact about the events, but the shame he felt over his helplessness crept into his tone more than he would have liked. Kaname squeezed his other hand tighter.

_"Bastards,"_ Yagari's muttered growl echoed Kaname's exact thoughts on the matter.

"_They _were other hunters, then?" Kaname said quietly, his voice frighteningly hard.

"I don't know. I think so." Zero studied the carpet, letting his gaze trace a vibrant swirl of red until it disappeared under Kaname's desk. "They must have been," he finally admitted. "I couldn't see their faces; they kept a light in my eyes." His tone had flattened out, emotionless now.

It was all Kaname could do not to tremble with rage. _Someone was going to die for this. _Zero finally met his eyes again and he clearly read what the pureblood was thinking. To be honest, at the moment he didn't mind the notion as much as he probably should have, but there was that part of him that always felt the need to be fair, even to his enemies. He also knew he mustn't get Kaname mixed up in this mess, for both their sakes.

"Look, I... I think they just wanted to give me a hard time," he clarified reluctantly. "If they'd wanted to kill me, they could have. This was about humiliation," he whispered, fingers worrying self-consciously at one of the worn leather seams of his Sensei's coat. The fact that he had been beaten up and then left naked in the woods led him to believe that this was the work of people who wanted to teach him a lesson, not do him serious harm. _You are not one of us and you don't belong, _was the message he was getting pretty loud and clear_._ If it was his life they wanted, they could have easily put him down once he was incapacitated.

Zero felt Kaname's body stiffen and realized too late that mentioning how easily he could have been killed had probably not been the best idea if calming the pureblood had been his intention. "We lost a couple of hunters recently," he added, trying not to dwell on the previous thought. He glanced towards Yagari as if for confirmation. "Maybe that had something to do with it."

Yagari nodded slowly. Unfortunately, what Zero said made a lot of sense. "They were older, experienced men with lots of friends, not the kind you expect to go off after a few E's and never return," he explained, for Kaname's benefit. "Things like that have a way of heightening anti-vampire sentiments for a while. Get people grieving, angry and probably shit-faced drunk and a lot of stupid things start to sound real good," his voice was thick with disgust.

Kaname shook his head, more from outrage than in dispute of what was being said although something about all this did feel wrong to him. "You're telling me that _this,_" he stroked the dark, ugly bruises on Zero's forearm gently with his long, soft fingers. "_This _was just some kind of _hazing _gone bad?"

Zero shrugged with a wince. He didn't like to admit it, but it was the scenario that made the most sense and best fit the facts. It was all too easy to believe that he was a target because of who and what he was. It was all too easy to suppose that some people would find him disgusting.

"They had something to prove, and they proved it." He swallowed with difficulty, his bruised throat feeling sore and tight. His gaze dropped away again. He was trying to act like this was no big deal, like it was nothing but a stupid prank pulled by people with the mental acuity of your average fraternity-style bully. He was trying to act as if it didn't matter. But it did. It hurt more than it should and Zero knew that meant he was an idiot. After all these years, you'd think he would have become used to the fact that there were some ways in which he would simply never truly belong anywhere.

"Yeah, they _proved_ that they're fucking morons," Yagari said brusquely, and again, Kaname could not have agreed more. The elder hunter crouched down beside the two vampires, laying his hand lightly on his apprentice's back. "Zero, I don't care what got them going, they crossed an unforgivable line. You get pissed, you want payback, fine, you go clear the execution lists. You _don't _turn on a fellow hunter and not even give him a fighting chance." _**They**__ are the traitors to their own kind, not you, _Yagari's steady, serious gaze added the last part as clear as words.

Zero's breath was uneven, despite his efforts to keep it steady. He had needed to hear that from his teacher. It was stupid, but he needed to know that deep down, Yagari did not agree with the men who had beaten him. He should know better. He _did _know better... but everyone had their hidden scars apparently, and these were his.

Kaname was willing to forgive Yagari anything when he saw the flicker of relief in Zero's eyes. He could support the young hunter in many ways, but this particular one was not easy. Kaname himself would certainly never fit in the hunter world, nor did he have any desire for their acceptance. As a result, his reassurances could never mean as much to Zero as those of someone else who was a part of that society and held to that path and those beliefs.

Tenderly, Kaname kissed Zero's palm and fingers, one by one. He hated what being a hunter did to Zero sometimes, but he also knew how entwined it was with Zero's sense of identity and worth. He would never ask his lover to be anything less than he was. He was very proud of him.

Zero smiled faintly, brushing Kaname's lips hesitantly with his finger tips and reading the unconditional acceptance the pureblood was intentionally trying to convey. He knew he didn't have to worry about rejection here, at least. Kaname's eyes declared just how wonderful and worthy he thought his lover was with almost embarrassing clarity. It was something of a nice surprise, actually, to realize that he _could_ unconsciously feel so confident of his partner's regard for him.

Yagari rolled his eye when the private moment between the two lovers took a mite longer than he was comfortable with. "You two done making kissy-eyes?" he muttered, but he was smiling a little and his hand was still on Zero's back. It was clear that at least in this instance, he sort of approved. Hell, to be perfectly honest, he was actually kind of glad. Zero _should _have someone who seemed capable of loving him for everything he was instead of judging him for what he could not be. He would never have imagined this cold, proud, scheming pureblood would end up being that person, but Kuran was so different with Zero.

"No," Kaname said with deliberate contentment in his voice as he continued to hold Zero's gaze adoringly. "This might take a while."

Zero gave Kaname a consternated look, ducking his head a little, but the faint hint of a smile still played about his bruised mouth. Sometimes, just ignoring both the pureblood and the elder hunter was the best policy, especially when they were in the same room.

A sudden memory darkened Zero's gaze again his smile faded. "They took everything I had with me," he said quietly, finally finding the courage to tell that part. He held Kaname's gaze because it was easier for him. "_Everything. _They took the Bloody Rose." He swallowed again and forced his gaze back up towards Yagari. It hadn't been his fault, but one of the first rules of being a hunter was that you never allowed yourself to be separated from your weapon unless it was pried out of your cold, dead hands.

Yagari swore softly and Kaname looked both concerned and indignant. They both knew how hard that loss must be on Zero and it was obvious that neither of them faulted the young hunter for the theft.

"We'll find it, and we'll get it back," Kaname promised. It was ironic, Zero and his precious gun had once irked the hell out of the pureblood, but now Kaname was prepared to leave no stone unturned to reunite them. He would make sure Zero got back what was his – that included his gun and his dignity. Kaname's eyes were stormy dark. It was obvious that this battery and degradation of his beloved was hitting him hard. "Whoever did this is going to pay, Zero. I'll find them out and _make _them pay."

Zero shook his head. He deeply appreciated his lover's protectiveness and he knew Kaname would be as good as his word, but he also knew he couldn't let that happen. "Kaname..."

Kaname's expression hardened; he did not want Zero telling him he couldn't exact revenge on his behalf. Zero was much too kind to too many bastards who deserved to die for the things they had done. The pureblood was not inclined to be nearly so forgiving, especially in this instance. "No," he countered. His touch on Zero's injured body was still incredibly gentle, but there was iron in his voice. "I don't care what their intentions were. Don't ask me to act like what they did to you is _nothing, _Zero!" Kaname wasn't growling, but his fangs flashed clearly in his mouth when he spoke. He was obviously quite upset. Those men had touched his mate and they _had _to die. They _had _to. Kaname was not bloodthirsty by nature, for a vampire at least, but he would spill a river of it without hesitation or remorse to avenge and protect Zero.

Zero had been so unimaginably kind and wonderful to him last night when he had been a weak, broken mess. The thought of that precious person only hours later being trapped, beaten and humiliated by bigoted morons who weren't worthy to lick the ground he walked on literally made Kaname's blood thrum and his fangs throb. It wasn't often that he quite literally wanted to tear someone's throat out, but right now, he did.

"Kaname, we've talked about this," Zero warned. "You can't eliminate everybody who looks at me funny. I will handle this myself. You getting involved would only make things worse," he protested firmly, concerned by the incredibly set look on his lover's face. He knew that look meant business. Kaname would do anything for him, and he treasured that, but he also knew the danger. The _last _thing he needed was Kaname stepping on toes and throwing his weight around against the Association or any suspected hunters. That would make them _all _hate Zero faster than you could say _meddling pureblood arrogance. _

"Whoa... let's all slow down," Yagari interjected, reminding the two vampires that he was still present. He didn't like it, but he understood how things were. "Look, Kuran, I want to kick their sorry butts into next week too, but the kid is right," he interjected. "We can help and support, but ultimately he has to deal with this kind of thing himself. If you or I get too involved, _especially _you, it will only heighten the bad blood and make it seem like he can't fight his own fights." To be honest, Yagari still had some definite thoughts about what he was going to do when he found out who was responsible, but in their society there were things that he could do as Zero's sensei, which it would not be all right for Kaname to do as a vampire.

Kaname cast the elder hunter a dark look, as if he were a traitor for even suggesting that they not avenge Zero's honor... or perhaps, for suggesting that _he _not avenge it, since Kaname sincerely doubted Yagari was really going to ignore what had happened. Unfortunately, he knew that both hunters did have a valid point. The vampire world was much the same. Strength was everything. You had to prove you were predator and not prey. Only then would others leave you alone and give you respect. He knew that, but it was a lot harder to accept when it affected someone you loved so much. Maybe at another time it would have been easier, but seeing Zero naked, bruised and bearing shackle marks on his wrists in the woods had almost been too much for Kaname in his current state of mind. He'd feared the worst, and even though he knew now that what had happened was slightly less dreadful then what he had feared... he still couldn't completely shake that horrible initial feeling.

The soft flicker in the back of Zero's stubborn amethyst eyes and fact that the young hunter wasn't blowing up at him for being overbearingly protective told Kaname that Zero guessed why his lover was having such a hard time letting this go. Zero would say nothing to give those thoughts away in front of Yagari, but Kaname could see that he knew.

Yagari was looking at him strangely, a sudden tenseness having set into his limbs and Kaname realized with a small jolt that his eyes must have gone red. He quickly closed them, breathing slowly. Only then did he realize just how much his chest ached and how hard his fangs were digging into his lower lip. _Crap. _He was letting himself get worked up far too easily. The raw, angry, thundering blood lust in his chest was not necessarily out of proportion with what had happened, but it was unsettling that it had so easily slipped through the normally strict level of control he maintained over that part of his nature. It was a disturbing sign that he was not as stable as he should be. _Damn it, Zero didn't need this crap from him right now. _

Yagari relaxed slightly as Kuran visibly calmed himself and the disturbed vampire vibes in the room settled. He understood being pissed ten ways to Christmas over this affair, but he was struck again by the feeling he'd had earlier that Kuran's emotions seemed to be riding unusually close to the surface. He did not miss the oddly gentle way Zero's fingers slid into the pureblood's hair as he tipped the dark head close to him for a moment. It was a soothing gesture. Whatever was up with the pureblood, Zero knew about it, which probably meant it was something personal. Which in turn meant it was _none _of Yagari's business and the elder hunter clamped off any further curiosity.

Kaname felt guilty as Zero's fingers traced softly through his hair. He should be soothing Zero right now, not the other way around. This was unforgivable. When he opened his eyes they were once more their normal hue and his face was calm and tender. He squeezed Zero's hand. "We should get you cleaned up," he said quietly. "We can discuss other matters later."

Zero gave a small nod. He was aware of the fact that Kaname had not in fact promised to let him handle things his own way, but that could be an argument for later, preferably when they were alone. Right now a nice, hot shower sounded like heaven. He allowed Kaname to help him to his feet, trying not to wince too visibly as the motion pulled at his battered body.

With a bit of difficulty, he kept the blanket wrapped around him while he slid out of Yagari's coat. "Thanks," he said quietly as he handed the garment back, keeping the blanket about him with his other hand. Zero meant for everything, including coming after him like he had.

Yagari took the coat back, holding Zero's eyes for a moment. "No problem," he said quietly. His gaze flickered down towards the ugly, blackened wounds circling the young man's bare wrists and despite what he had said and what he knew, he really did understand the rage Kaname had displayed a few moments ago. He knew this was his cue to be leaving, but he hesitated a moment, his gaze still intent on his apprentice.

"Zero, I get that you need to handle this, but do me a favor. When you find out who did this, after you beat the snot out of them, you let me know, okay? Whoever it was he or they criminally misused official hunter channels by sending you that message and impersonating Association Dispatch. That's a _serious_ infraction and I _will _make sure they get their asses nailed to the wall for that," Yagari told him seriously.

Zero gave a small nod. "Okay," he agreed quietly.

Kaname wrapped his arm around Zero's shoulders, lightly steering him towards the door. Yagari followed them out into the hall, shrugging back into his coat.

Kaname glanced back towards the elder hunter. "I already have people collecting your truck and Zero's motorcycle, they will bring your vehicle to you. In the meanwhile, there's a car waiting downstairs to take you home," he told him. "Izumi has prepared refreshments for you, they're waiting downstairs as well."

Mindful of the fact that Yagari had been in the woods all night, Kaname had had a brimming hamper of gourmet food and drink prepared to send home with the hunter during the time it had taken to get he and Zero back to Night Haven. It was his way of saying thank you without actually having to say it, and the kind of gift he felt Yagari's pride would allow him to accept, even from him.

Yagari raised his eyebrows and ran a hand through his hair, pushing his hat back a little. He was finally allowing himself to notice how incredibly tired and hungry he was and although he wouldn't admit it, getting something in him and going home to bed sounded mighty appealing. _Damn... sleeping during the day, they were turning him into a bloody vampire._

"All right," he acknowledged, turning to head for the stairs. He was quite familiar with the house after all the time he had spent here and did not need anyone to show him out. "Zero, you rest up. I'll talk to you later. Kuran..." he paused. He was going to tell him to take care of Zero, but he already knew he would. It was a weird feeling to realize that. "Next time you call me, I'm hanging up," he said instead with a wry grin that indicated exactly the opposite. "Later," he bid them adieu, tossing a flippant, two fingered salute in their direction before descending the stairs.

* * *

Zero winced as he turned his bruised face into the hot spray of water. It felt good to shower the dirt of the forest off of him, but now that all the adrenalin of escape had faded, he was increasingly aware of how badly he hurt. The many, swollen, blossoming bruises spread across his body were incredibly tender and he had a couple of broken ribs that were making it difficult to breathe properly. The painful injuries to his wrists ensured that he wasn't healing anytime soon. The broken ribs meant he probably had internal injuries from the severity of the beating. If he were human, he should have been in the hospital. Naturally, however, a born vampire like Kaname didn't think of that, and Zero knew he would be all right with time and blood.

_Blood..._ the water dripping from his injured arms was pinkish with his blood and Zero realized he was staring at it, mesmerized. He was so hungry. His fangs throbbed in his head and Kaname's presence in the bedroom beyond called to him like a siren song. Forcing himself to finish his shower first, he washed the burning, clotted injuries about his wrists clean, working loose the scabs with the washcloth and his fingers. He breathed harshly through his teeth, tears of pain glistening in his eyes as he forced himself to debride and flush the wounds. It hurt so terribly it made his head swim, but he knew it had to be done and there was no use putting it off. The injuries were dirty from his struggles in the woods and he needed to purge them of any lingering poison from the cuffs. He had to stop several times, leaning against the wall of the shower and breathing rapidly as he forced away the dark spots dancing in front of his eyes, but once he was done the wounds did feel a little better. The gnawing sting grew less at least.

Shuddering under the warm water and trying to catch his breath, Zero rubbed a hand up and down the upper part of his arm, massaging his biceps and using the stimulus in an effort to distract himself from the flaming pain in his wrists.

His hand passed over the inside of his elbow and a memory tugged at him. He rubbed the spot self-consciously, frowning softly and leaning his back against the wet tiled wall as he struggled to pull information from the haze of pain he'd been in right before he passed out. He'd not told either Kaname or Yagari about that half-remembered needle prick he'd felt before blacking out. He had barely thought about it himself until just now. What had that been about? Had his attackers been that wary of him that they went to the bother of sedating him after he was already practically unconscious? Was that why he'd been out for so many hours? Or... was it something else, he had been given?

Zero felt cold. He knew he was borrowing trouble by making connections that probably didn't exist and made no sense even if they did, but with everything that had been happening lately, he couldn't help it.

Finally he shut off the water. After gingerly drying off and wrapping himself up in a long, plush robe, he made his way back into the bedroom and found Kaname waiting for him. There was a pleasant hint of lavender in the air and Zero spotted a small glass oil lamp on nightstand, the lighted wick dancing peacefully as the heated oil released the sweet, soothing scent.

Kaname beckoned him over. The pureblood was wearing pajama pants and a robe, but both were his own this time, just like the clothes Zero had seen him wearing earlier, in the study. Some of Kaname's toiletries had been on the sink counter in the bathroom too. Kaname must have gone into his room long enough to get some of his things out of there earlier today, although Zero didn't see any of his clothes in the closet.

Wearily, Zero sank down to sit on the edge of his bed. Kaname sat down next to him, one knee pulled up under him. He didn't speak, there wasn't really anything to say. The hunter looked so incredibly _awful _it pained him. Kaname was still uneasy about the timing of everything that had happened and not entirely sure whether he agreed with Zero about the simplicity of the explanation for the attack in the woods, but right now none of that mattered much. Zero was hurting and Kaname wanted only to comfort him. It was strange to realize how things had shifted so much since the last time they were together in this same spot. Kaname felt slightly overwhelmed, like too many things were happening too fast. There were too many random threads to try to follow, making it difficult to keep hold of them all and make the right connections between them. That worried him.

Kaname touched Zero's bruised face tenderly, caressing the purplish swelling along his left cheekbone and carefully brushing his split and puffy lower lip with one gentle thumb. The look in the pureblood's expressive garnet eyes suggested that he was almost physically pained by his lover's wounds, perhaps worse so than if he himself were feeling them.

The dark head leaned forward and Kaname kissed Zero's cut lip and swollen cheekbone tenderly, cupping the silver head between his hands as his lips and tongue traced feather light across the sore, damaged flesh.

Zero let his breath out slowly as the inherent magic of Kaname's touch made the agonizing throbbing of his battered flesh subside a little, allowing a certain measure of relief from the gnawing, bone-deep ache pounding in his head. Zero knew Kaname was using his natural pureblood abilities to dull pain and make the hunter feel better, but that wasn't the only kind of comfort that the other vampire's gentle touch provided. Zero felt better just having Kaname near him like this. The simple sweetness of his lover's concerned, tender caresses did a lot to ease his pain all on its own.

Zero smiled faintly, careful because of the strain that the motion placed on his injured lip. He kissed Kaname's jaw lightly as the pureblood continued to softly nuzzle his injured face, as if he could pull the pain out of the hunter and into himself. Zero allowed it only because he knew Kaname _couldn't _actually do that.

"You're so much better than aspirin, you know that?" Zero murmured quietly, the small smile evident in his voice. His fingers ran slowly through Kaname's dark hair, playing with the silky curls that lay against his lover's neck.

Kaname pulled back enough to smile at him. It was a heartbreakingly loving and worried expression. Zero could tell Kaname felt guilty about what had happened to him, even though it was in no way the pureblood's fault.

Carefully, Kaname caressed him one more time and then slipped open the top of his robe. He was not wearing a nightshirt below and Zero's eyes were immediately drawn to his lover's pale, graceful throat. The pureblood's ebony locks brushed the naked curve of his neck and shoulders as he let the robe slide down to his elbows, baring the upper part of his body for Zero's use.

Zero swallowed softly, momentarily unable to pull his gaze away from Kaname's now exposed and exquisitely inviting body. His hunger flared anew. He could hear the blood pulsing in his lover's veins and he felt the deep, familiar craving kindle to life inside him. That which Kaname offered would not only heal him, but also bring the deepest euphoria that any blood could give. Zero knew that, and familiarity made the longing ache inside him even more intense.

Kaname smiled softly as he saw Zero staring at his neck as if entranced. He loved that reaction. He loved that Zero wanted him and he loved the sensation of their joining in this manner. Tenderly, he cupped the back of Zero's head in his hand and drew him close, nuzzling his beloved's injured face carefully against his neck and cradling the boy's body with an arm around his shoulders. He kissed Zero's ear and stroked his hair. The invitation was obvious and completely natural between them now, so Kaname did not even bother voicing it.

"I'm so sorry this happened," he murmured instead. _I will kill the people who did this to you, Zero. I promise I won't get you in any trouble, no one has to know what happened, but they _will _pay._ He did not speak the promise aloud. Zero had already made his feelings clear on the subject, but Kaname simply could not make himself let it go this time. There were some things his lover didn't have to know.

Zero surprisingly hadn't bitten him yet, so Kaname stroked his hair a little more encouragingly. "You'll feel better soon," he whispered, almost physically aching to take Zero's pain away.

Zero's breathing turned slightly ragged. Kaname's scent enveloped him. His warm skin and the throb of his delicious blood was devastatingly close and Zero wanted both very much. Normally, he would not have hesitated... but that half remembered impression of a needle stabbing his arm was giving him pause.

His arms tightened around Kaname's waist as he fought with himself. He might be imagining the memory, everything was cloudy right before he passed out. It might not mean anything... but then again, it might. He was thinking of Aido. He was thinking of viruses that could infect a vampire and be transferred through blood or bite. He was thinking that most people knew or assumed that Kuran drank his blood, even if they didn't know the reverse was also true. He was thinking of what had happened to Yuki, of the way she was attacked and injected with the pathogen that killed her. He was thinking that there were too many coincidences for comfort and that not enough things made sense. He was thinking he had a huge, horrible headache and really couldn't think clearly at all.

With a supreme, almost gut-wrenching act of will, Zero turned his face away from Kaname's neck, burying it against his lover's shoulder instead. He breathed harshly, his body shuddering as he battled the need which burned inside him like a fire in his chest. He hadn't had to fight it for a long time, but he'd not lost his ability to do so. Maybe he was being foolish and over cautious. He might not be remembering events correctly, or if he was, the more likely scenario was that the hunters had injected him with an anti-vampire poison to retard his abilities and healing after the fact in order to keep him out longer and give them more time to cover their tracks.

It was quite possible that his restraint was unnecessary... but he simply couldn't take the chance. He wasn't willing to take selfish risks that might endanger his lover. It was bad enough that Kaname's shade form had licked his wounds before Zero had even thought of the possible danger, he couldn't chance making things any worse. Until he was able to get Aido alone and have the blonde run his blood for any trace of anything suspicious, he could not risk biting Kaname and passing on anything he might unwittingly be carrying. He couldn't risk having any bodily fluid contact with him, which meant no making love either. He probably shouldn't have even been kissing Kaname. Zero grimaced. He was going to have to track Aido down first thing.

"Zero?" Kaname's gentle voice was confused and worried. Zero was gripping him almost painfully tight, but for some unfathomable reason he was refusing to bite him. They hadn't had this problem in quite a while and the pureblood's brows furrowed. "Come on, Zero, it's okay..." he murmured soothingly rubbing his lover's tense back with one hand while his other slid up to his own neck, nails sharpening. "It will help."

"No..." Zero's voice was a strangled groan as he caught Kaname's hand, arresting its progress. He knew the other pureblood intended to cut himself, to put his blood in the air by way of encouragement. He had done it many, many times in the past when Zero had been reluctant to drink and it almost always worked. Zero didn't know if he could resist once he scented the wonderfully familiar aroma and he could not afford to lose his resolve. Even if he was being foolish, he loved Kaname too much to take chances with him.

"Please, Kaname... just... just not right now," Zero's voice was trying for firm and collected, but sounded hoarse and shaky instead. "I'll be okay."

Kaname started to gently pull his hand away and Zero knew with a sinking feeling that the pureblood was going to keep pressing and coaxing, like he always did. "No! Kaname, I need you to respect me on this for once. Please, don't make me," he pleaded softly.

He could only hope his lover would heed his wishes. Due to their early relationship, Kaname was far too used to having to all but force him to drink blood and Zero knew that if pressed hard enough, he would give in and he couldn't! He couldn't risk it! But neither could he tell Kaname what he feared. His lover was dealing with enough crap as it was, he didn't need to be worrying about Zero on top of it, at least not until Zero knew if there was anything they _needed_ to worry about or not. Zero wasn't an idiot. He knew that if he told Kaname he had been attacked and possibly injected with something, the pureblood would immediately think of what had happened to Yuki... and Zero didn't know if Kaname could handle the anguish of even just fearing that somehow, Zero might be taken from him too. His lover was too fragile after recent events, Zero simply couldn't do that to him. The specter of how frighteningly broken and terrified of being left alone the pureblood had been only a day ago was too fresh and raw in Zero's mind.

Kaname unwillingly dropped his hand and wrapped his arms around Zero's back instead, reluctantly abiding by his lover's wishes. He was completely confused and a little hurt. "I _do_ respect you, Zero," he whispered softly, obviously wounded by the unintentional implication that he did not.

Zero screwed his eyes shut, realizing he was making a mess of this and hurting Kaname even as he tried not to. _Damn _it was so freaking hard to think! He ached fiercely and he just wanted to curl up in Kaname's embrace and forget about everything. He didn't have the energy to deal with this difficult and tangled emotional minefield. Sometimes he wished things could just be simple. "I know you do, I didn't mean it like that," he murmured against Kaname's shoulder. "I'm sorry, I feel like shit, Kaname, I'm not thinking straight, don't take it personal," he pleaded.

Kaname didn't understand this at all. _Why wouldn't Zero drink from him? _The sudden, although admittedly irrational fear that it had something to do with yesterday and the whole mess with Nasser stabbed through his gut and almost took his breath away. His arms encircled Zero even more tenderly, almost clinging to him. _Please... please don't push me away. _

"If you feel badly then why won't you drink?" Kaname whispered softly. "Have I done something wrong, Zero?"

Zero groaned and lifted his head from Kaname's shoulder with difficulty. He knew now what Kaname was thinking and it frustrated him that he'd managed to accidentally step on those recent wounds again. He was in pain and so tired... he wasn't up for this. He needed Kaname to just trust him and let it go and that showed in his eyes. "No," he whispered, kissing Kaname softly with carefully closed lips. "Not at _all. _This isn't about you, Kaname. Or about _us_. I just... I'm not ready right now. I-I can't explain it. Please... please just... just hold me."

There was truth in Zero's eyes and his request would have melted iron. It certainly melted Kaname's fears. He let them drain away to be replaced for a deep, burning, compassionate ache for his lover. He realized suddenly that Zero had been beaten by a group of his peers, by fellow hunters, because he was a vampire. Who knew what ugly, bigoted things they might have said to him? Or what they might have done to make him feel ashamed of what he was, something that Zero had never needed any help feeling in the first place? If he looked at it that way it wasn't much surprise at all that Zero was having issues with drinking blood again right after something like that, especially now that Kaname had seen those horrible memories from his past which Zero had shared the other night.

Folding Zero back into his arms with the utmost tenderness, Kaname stroked his back and hair comfortingly. "Of course, Zero," he murmured. "I'm sorry. Just know that whatever you want, whatever you need, I'm here, okay?" He kissed Zero's hair. His hatred for Zero's attackers burned to new levels. He'd worked so long and so hard to get Zero to start hesitantly accepting the natural needs of his vampiric body, he would gut those bastards slowly for making the boy ashamed of himself all over again.

Zero rested his cheek against Kaname's chest and nodded his head. Yes, he knew and he was relieved that the pureblood seemed prepared to let it go pretty easily for once, without seeming to feel too hurt. He felt himself begin to relax gratefully. "Thanks," he whispered, his fingers coming to rest against Kaname's chest, palm pressing lightly against the other vampire's heartbeat. "_This _is what I need," he added softly, before he could stop himself. He flushed slightly at having said those words, but Kaname's beautiful, radiantly gentle smile was reassuring.

Kaname pulled back the covers. Careful of Zero's injured body, he guided the hunter down to the bed. Zero grit his teeth, struggling to breathe as his broken ribs shifted, making his internal injuries scream at the motion. Once he was down it felt good to be there though. It was a relief to not have to support any part of his body for a while. The bed and pillow were soft beneath him, conforming to him and cradling his injured form.

Kneeling beside him, Kaname pulled the soft covers over Zero, up to his waist, keeping him warm and relaxed. Zero's robe had fallen partially open and Kaname rested one warm palm lightly on the hunter's flat stomach. Zero's skin was mottled darkly there and Kaname knew his lover was bleeding internally. It truly killed him that Zero wouldn't drink and allow him to make all of this better instantly, but he tried to respect Zero's mental needs as much as his physical. He knew he would have shattered the other evening if Zero had forced him to do things he wasn't ready to do, so the pureblood was currently extra sensitive to such things.

There were other ways he could help. Leaning down, he kissed the bruises on Zero's face, chest and shoulders slowly. His warm lips glided across the injured skin with tender thoroughness.

Zero felt warm relief flowing from Kaname's hand on his stomach and from the soothing, intimate caress of his lips and mouth. The pureblood was doing it again, using his gifts to sooth away his lover's pain and encourage healing. Carefully, Kaname tried to release just enough pheromones to get Zero lightly buzzed without getting him too aroused. He touched the sensory receptors in Zero's mind, lulling them and deadening perception of pain.

Zero wasn't sure what exactly Kaname was doing to him, but as a blessedly painless state of almost drunken contentedness settled on him, bleeding his pain a way to a dull, aching insignificance, he appreciated it more than he could say. A soft groan of grateful relief escaped him unintentionally as his body relaxed fully. He melted wearily into the bed as Kaname worked patiently over him, touching and kissing. It was sensual, but not sexual. Kaname was careful to keep it so. He was masking Zero's pain, but his injuries were still there. If Zero wasn't going to drink, then he needed to keep still and rest now.

Zero's fingers tangled wearily in Kaname's hair, his movements slow as exhaustion and the magic Kaname was working over his body started to take over. "_So _much better than aspirin," he murmured again with a faint, adoring smile on his lips. "Thanks."

Kaname just smiled and continued his ministrations until Zero fell asleep, then he pulled the covers up over them both and turned out he light.

* * *

Shivering with chills, Aido groped for the blanket in his sleep, wrapping up in it tightly. The sheets were damp with perspiration and his skin was flushed. He'd passed out on the bed shortly after talking with Kaname the previous night and had not awoken since. He was not exactly asleep so much as he was floating in and out of delirium. Sometimes he was more or less conscious, but he felt so awful that he found himself wishing desperately to fall back asleep and eventually he did.

After a little while he began to burn, his body feeling so hot it was as if the sun was shining directly upon him. Groaning, Aido threw the covers off again without really awakening. Turning his pillow he tried to find a cool spot on the other side.

He had no concept of how much time was passing as the fever ravaging him deepened and he found himself alternately freezing and burning up. His skin was painfully hot, but his bones felt like they were made of ice. He had never been so miserable. He wished he hadn't sent Kain away before this started, but he hadn't enough strength or enough lucidity to think of calling him. He was alone, and his only escape was in unconsciousness.

On the desk, his mobile phone buzzed quietly with the hourly reminder that he had several unheard voice messages. Kain had turned the ringer off before leaving so his cousin's much needed rest would not be disturbed. As the phone vibrated, the dimly lit display showed several missed calls from Naija Kish before the reminder tone ended and the screen went dark once more.

Lost in the grip of his fevered dreams, Aido was not aware of the almost silent buzz, or what it meant.


	26. Here Comes the Rain

_A/N: Cut Zero a little slack for his decision making at the start of this chapter, keep in mind his head isn't really clear and he's in a lot of pain. Likewise, keep in mind later that Kaname's only pissed because Zero scared the bejezus out of him, lol. __I apologize for doing a 'cut scene' over a certain part later on that I would usually enjoy writing out in full detail XD but right now this story really needs to keep moving and this chapter is already 20 pages long, so I had to leave some things to the imagination for a change. ;) _

_Also, PLEASE NOTE that Me + medical science = FAIL. Keep that in mind and please ignore any and all errors, omissions or glaring WTF-ery __regarding _the _vaguely _medical oriented bits of this chapter. I orginally intended parts of this chapter to happen at Aido's lab, but that just didn't work out logistically when it came time to write it, so this is what happened instead. It's probably totally ridiculous that Aido would be able to do these things at his home, but then again he's a wealthy genius vampire who has a huge vested interest in being able to do just this type of thing without having to get too far away from his sick bed, and my VK universe is actually set vaguely in the future, so their tech might be different/better/smaller than ours in some way, so... anyway, just try to ignore and suspend any disbelief and forgive my utter scientific failings. :P 

**Chapter Twenty-Six: "Here Comes the Rain"**

The raw gnaw of agony in his wrists woke Zero before he would have liked to be awakened. He tried to go back to sleep, but he hurt much too badly. Kaname's help had numbed him for a while, but the effects must have faded. Zero glanced at the clock and saw that he'd been asleep for longer than he'd thought. It was still early in the afternoon, but he'd gotten a somewhat decent amount of rest. Too bad his aching body made it feel like it hadn't been nearly enough.

He felt the still, peaceful shape of Kaname's body beside him. The pureblood was curled against his side, his cheek resting against Zero's neck. He knew all he had to do was wake Kaname and the pureblood would gladly take away his pain again, but Kaname would probably also try to coax him to drink again instead, and Zero wasn't up for that. Just looking at Kaname lying there, his hair fanned on the pillow, his face relaxed in sleep and his tempting neck irresistibly naked and available was making Zero's chest burn with a wholly different kind of pain.

Kaname looked beautifully serene and peaceful lying there. The leaden stillness with which he slept indicated that he was still recovering from the other night. Exerting himself as much as he had yesterday probably hadn't done him any favors either. Zero realized with a bit of a start that there were faint red marks on the pale cheek that was turned towards him. He almost reached out and touched the rash softly before he caught himself. Was that from yesterday, he wondered? He remembered that Kaname's shade had singed its muzzle trying to bite through his charmed restraints... was it possible that Kaname had reabsorbed that injury when he reabsorbed the avatar? Probably, since only the hunter nature of the slight injury could explain why it was still present.

There were also faint splashes of pink dappling the pureblood's exposed shoulders, as if he'd stood too long in the sun... which in a way, he had. It wasn't easy to run around in shade form under the ungentle glare of the sun and carrying two people over all that distance, one of whom was struggling fiercely, in broad daylight had taken more out of Kaname than he would admit.

Zero knew the faint marks presented no danger to Kaname, but he couldn't help feeling concerned anyway... then he realized his breath was starting to come short. His gaze had fixed on Kaname's neck even though he knew better. The pureblood's was sprawled partially on his side and partially on his stomach. His skin looked so soft, so inviting. Zero could almost see all the veins mapped out beneath, waiting to be tapped. He blinked, caught by the sudden swell of need that had grabbed him unawares.

The ex-human leaned up on his elbow before he could stop himself. Kaname was completely unguarded and vulnerable and that called to him. It would be so easy to take what he wanted... so easy to slide over Kaname's back and press him against the bed as his fangs found flesh... Zero shuddered. The most compelling part of all was that he knew Kaname would be intensely _pleased _to be awoken like that. His lover would shift under him and groan softly in delight, tipping his head more to the side, offering more of himself and wanting more of Zero in return...

Zero knew. It had happened that way many times before. The lovely familiarity drew him in and his head started to dip lower. A sharp pang from his injured ribs arrested his progress and brought a fleeting moment of clarity with it, allowing him to realize what he was about to do.

Zero fell back to the bed, pressing the back of his fist against his mouth and breathing raggedly as he stared up at the ceiling in silent, wide-eyed panic. _What had he almost done? _It didn't matter how hungry he was, it wouldn't kill him to wait until he knew whether it was safe or not. Kaname was obviously already a little weakened, did he love him so little he would risk the possibility of giving him something dreadful just because he couldn't control himself? _No way. _

He pressed his eyes shut, knowing they were red. Kaname would sense his hunger the moment he woke up. Heck, if he wasn't careful, it was going to _wake_ him up. Already, the pureblood was stirring in his sleep. Zero's mind was foggy and he could feel in himself that seductive, frightening loss of control which he had not had cause to dread in a long time. Kaname had presented him with a safe place where he gradually learned not to fear his needs but he'd spent a good portion of his formative years terrified that he was becoming a monster and those scars were deep. The fear that succumbing to his desires meant hurting someone he cared about was ingrained into the surface of his psyche and too easily rekindled.

Unable to trust himself, Zero rolled painfully onto his side and out of bed. He couldn't be near Kaname right now, it wasn't safe. The unbearable temptation was so strong, he wasn't going to be able to resist much longer. If Kaname got one glimpse of him in this state there was nothing Zero was going to be able to do to prevent the pureblood from forcing him to drink, either. There were other options he might have taken, but he was currently incapable of the rationality needed to come up with such.

"Zero?" Kaname murmured sleepily, the motion awakening him.

"Bathroom," Zero mumbled without turning around and he heard Kaname settle back onto the pillow. "Gotta make a few calls too," he added as he shuffled for the bathroom, trying not to wince with every step. He was doing a good job of hiding his hunger and containing his aura, something Kaname had been teaching him how to do, but it wasn't easy. He was probably only succeeding because the other vampire wasn't entirely awake and was feeling a bit muzzy from the small touch of hunter poison and sun exposure he'd had yesterday.

Kaname made a sound of mild protest. He knew Zero often had to get up in the middle of the day to make phone calls that had to happen during human business hours, but he wanted Zero to rest some more, especially after what he'd been through. Although, he imagined Zero must be doing better if he wanted to be up and around already. Having always lived with vampire healing gave Kaname a skewed view of what was considered a normal interval for recovery.

"It won't take long," Zero muttered, trying his best to sound exasperated instead of desperate. He wanted Kaname to go back to sleep. He needed a little time. He needed to go see Aido, _quick_.

"Fine, fine..." Kaname murmured, rolling over and burrowing back under the covers. "Just don't go running off on me again, right?"

It was a sleepy jest, but it hit Zero with a sharp pang of guilt. "No, of course not. Go back to sleep, Kaname," he lied, feeling like absolute crap.

After hiding in the bathroom until he had his bloodlust momentarily back under control again, Zero quietly grabbed some clothes out of one of his drawers and slipped out of the bedroom. He dressed downstairs, once he was out of Kaname's earshot and away from the maddening sound of the blood pulsing in his lover's veins. He donned jeans, shirt and shoes, but he felt curiously naked without the familiar weight of the Bloody Rose. He was probably going about this all wrong, but pain and hunger were clouding his reason and he just didn't know what else to do.

Driven by an urgent need to get as far away from Kaname as he could before he lost his resolve, Zero made his way quietly out to the garage. He didn't like leaving without explanation, but Aido didn't live that far away and he reasoned he should be able to get back before Kaname woke up. Later he would wonder in what universe this had seemed like a reasonable plan, but being in a heightened state of blood lust was rather like being drunk... there were a lot of things that sounded like a really good idea at the time.

He saw that his bike had been brought back, as Kaname said it would be, but he realized his spare keys were still up in his room. No way he was going back up there to get them and risking waking Kaname, or further exposing himself to the temptation that Kaname presented to him. Instead, he chose one of the several cars in the garage and retrieved the appropriate set of keys from the lockbox in the drawing room.

Zero was halfway to Aido's house before the red finally faded from his vision, and his head cleared enough for him to wonder what the hell he was doing. If Kaname woke to find him gone without explanation, the pureblood was going to panic. He felt hideously guilty. This was a lousy thing to do to him, but Zero knew if he went back, he would not be able to control himself and in his current state and he couldn't bear to tell Kaname his fears until he knew for sure, one way or another. He'd come this far, he might as well finish it. He just needed to be quick.

Dark clouds were rolling in across the afternoon sky. They made it look as if evening were already approaching and increased the urgency in the pit of his stomach. Flooring the accelerator, Zero hoped there were no traffic officers on this stretch today.

* * *

Aido rolled over and put the pillow over his head with a groan, trying to figure out where the ungodly racket was coming from and if he could kill whatever was causing it before it made his head explode. Unfortunately, due to his clogged airways, he couldn't actually _breathe _under the pillow and quickly came up again, gasping for air as consciousness intruded a little more clearly into his thoughts.

The blonde flopped onto his back and stared up at the ceiling, unsure for a moment if he was really awake or not. The damp, sticky sheets tangled around his legs were soaked with perspiration, but his body felt blessedly cooler now. Despite still feeling pretty crappy, in some ways he actually felt quite a bit better than he had before. His fever had broken several hours ago and he'd been in a deep sleep ever since, although he wasn't up to piecing all that together just yet. He couldn't even figure out what the thumping noise that had woken him was.

He was aware that his mouth felt painfully dry and he was incredibly parched, so he rolled out of bed and stumbled into the kitchen. Splashing water on his face and neck and drinking straight from the tap brought him a bit further back to life and he realized that the incessant thumping noise was someone knocking - more like pounding - on his door.

Shuffling to the door, Aido yanked it open. "What?" he demanded hoarsely, and then blinked a few times when he saw who it was. To be honest, he had no idea who exactly he _had_ expected to see, but it hadn't been Zero Kiriyu standing there looking like he'd just lost a fight with a sledge hammer.

Shock registered on Zero's face as he took in Aido's flushed and rumpled form. The young vampire's blonde hair was wildly mussed, his skin was damp with perspiration, his eyes were a little too bright and his cheek was creased, suggesting he'd just gotten out of bed. Well, that wasn't surprising given the hour, but Aido was obviously not feeling at all well. Zero had the decency to feel guilty for dragging the sick vampire out of bed like this, but there was no one else he could turn to.

"Zero?" Aido looked at him in mildly annoyed confusion, taking in the hunter's dark shiner and busted lip. "You look terrible."

"Thanks, you too," Zero returned dryly. "Can I come in a minute?"

Aido backed up and let him in, shuffling back to the sink in the kitchen and getting more water, in a glass this time.

"Hanabusa, are you okay?" Zero asked quietly as he followed the other vampire and watched Aido hang onto the sink edge while he gulped water. Now that he was a safe distance away from Kaname, Zero was finding it a little easier to control himself and function beyond his hunger, at least for the moment. Fortunately, Aido did not inspire in him the same kind of instant craving that Kaname did. He really was literally addicted to his lover's blood by now, although he didn't like to think about it that way.

Aido looked up at him with puffy, red-rimmed eyes and gave a sarcastic snort. "No," he snuffled, reaching for a tissue. "No, I'm not. I've been deliriously ill, I don't even know what night it is or whether or not I'm dying and I feel like hell. Why are you here?"

Zero's guilt deepened. Usually Aido's snarkiness would have brought answer in kind, but the blonde looked terrible and Zero wished he could say he'd just come by to check on him. "I... need a favor."

Aido gave a laugh that turned into a cough. "You're kidding, right?" He pressed the cool glass in his hand to his forehead, leaning his hips back against the edge of the counter behind him. "What happened to you anyway? You really do look like crap."

Zero chuckled mirthlessly, unconsciously touching his throbbing jaw with his fingertips. "Yeah, I know. It was... work related," he said vaguely, not wanting to go into what had happened. Fortunately for him, Aido was apparently too miserable to be very curious.

"Look," Zero rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I know the timing sucks, but I need you to run a blood test on me."

Aido groaned. "Now?" He set the glass down on the counter and moved over to the refrigerator. Tugging the door open, he pulled out a small quart jar of thick, dark liquid. Unscrewing the top he gave it a sniff as if to see whether it was fresh.

Zero bit his lip, gaze cast down to the floor as the scent of blood filled the room and his chest tightened.

Aido took a small sip out of the jar, then made a face at trying it cold and reached for one of the saucepans hanging nearby. "Whatever for? Can't it wait?" he asked as he poured the blood into the pan and put it on the stove to warm.

Zero leaned his shoulder against the wall beside him, clutching at his chest and trying not to groan. The scent of the warming blood infusing the air was unbearable. It was threatening to put him back to the edge again. "No, it really can't," he said quietly, struggling with the pressure in his chest that mixed uneasily with the raw throb of his damaged insides. He felt sick and so incredibly thirsty.

Aido started to say something, but as he turned back around, he saw the red in Zero's averted eyes and read the signs of his problem written clearly across his face and tense body. "Zero! What the hell?" He sounded confused and a little worried. "You shouldn't be here, you need to go home." The noble couldn't imagine why Zero was running around on the verge of bloodlust when he had _Kaname-sama _to drink from.

"No!" Zero rasped, pressing his eyes shut and turning his head against the wall, forcing himself to breathe slowly. "I can't go back until I know if it's safe," he rasped. "Don't you get it, Aido? I'm telling you there's a chance I could have been infected with something like what you have. I'm probably not, it's probably nothing, but I need to make _sure_. You want me to bite Kaname before I know for sure?"

Aido's eyes widened. He was terribly confused about why Zero thought he might be infected, but he could _completely_ understand not wanting to endanger Kaname in anyway. "But... What? How...?"

Zero shook his head. "That's not important right now. Hanabusa, you're the only one who knows how to do this. Are you going to help me or not?" The words could have sounded harsh, but the desperation in Zero's voice lent them much more of a pleading edge than he probably would have liked.

Aido knew Zero didn't ask for help easily and it sobered him a bit. "Sure, of course..." He ran a shaky hand through his hair. "Just let me get something to drink," he murmured. He understood how Zero was feeling far too well. He took the warmed blood off the stove and poured it into a mug. It wasn't nearly as good as fresh, but it was a lot better than nothing. He paused partway through and poured half of it into a second mug. He completely drained his in several swallows before carrying the other over to Zero.

The ex-human still had his cheek pressed against the wall, his eyes clenched shut.

"Hey, Zero?" Aido held the mug out towards him. "It's Kain's; he and Ruka have been keeping me stocked. It's not terribly fresh but it helps. It's just out of a cup, I don't think Kaname-sama would mind," he added quietly. Drinking stored blood from a serving vessel severed the emotional connection that usually accompanied the act of blood sharing. It was mostly just food at this point.

Zero hesitated, agonized crimson eyes fluttering open. He wanted to refuse, but knew it was pointless to do so. There wasn't really any reason for him _not _to accept Aido's offer, except for his own revulsion at the idea of drinking a nice warm cup of blood as if it were coffee or something. Ironically, that seemed weirder to him than drinking it from someone's neck, which told him that he was either a very strange person, or he'd been hanging out with vampires for far too long. He also was not crazy at the idea of drinking some random person's blood either. It wasn't as if Kain was a stranger or anything, but actually that made it worse and more embarrassing to him.

Biting the figurative bullet, Zero took the cup from Aido, downing it quickly before he could think too much about what he was doing. It actually didn't taste bad for being least a day or two old, although Zero of course was completely spoiled by his usual fare. He handed the mug back to Aido, feeling his chest loosen slightly as the thick liquid took a bit of the edge off his need. It was a drop in the bucket of what he needed and he was still intensely hungry, but it helped him get control again.

He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand, the red fading from his eyes with effort as he leaned against the wall. "Don't _ever _tell Kain," he muttered.

"Did anyone ever tell you how demanding you are?" Aido asked as he put both mugs in the sink. He felt a little better and more alert now too, although he was still fatigued.

"Once or twice," Zero said with a faint attempt at a grin, thinking the pot was calling the kettle black. "Hey... thanks," he added, serious this time.

"Whatever," Aido returned a weak attempt at a grin himself. "Look, Zero, I really need to take a shower and try to clear my head before I start looking at tests again. It'll just take a few minutes, okay?"

Zero resisted the urge to say that was definitely not okay and he had to hurry before Kaname woke up and missed him. He wasn't that selfish; his poor choices were not Aido's fault and the younger vampire really did look like he could use a few minutes to gather himself and freshen up. Besides, Zero didn't want him to be making mistakes either. So the hunter just shrugged and nodded.

Aido seemed to take forever in the shower. When he emerged he was wearing fresh pajamas, slippers and robe and looked a little more alive. Zero eyed the pajamas under the robe when he realized there were actually pictures of cute little ducks sown into the hems. Aido caught him looking and glared, muttering something about it being a gift from one of his big sisters.

Zero had made tea and toast for the blonde while he was in the shower. He remembered his mother making that for him on the few occasions when he had been sick as a child, and he'd made it for Ichiru quite often. Aido drank the tea appreciatively and nibbled on the toast at Zero's insistence. He found that it went down better than he'd expected and ended up finishing it. Apparently, he decided, Zero knew a lot about this being sick business.

Zero managed to curb his agitated impatience long enough for Aido to finish his breakfast. The young noble was definitely starting to look perkier, although he was still running through tissues like nobody's business.

"Zero, why do you think you might have been infected?" Aido asked as he got something out of one of the cabinets and set it on the counter. "You weren't..."

"No, it was _not _from blood contact," Zero cut him off a bit tersely. As _if _he would have been messing around with anyone but Kaname!

Aido had the decency to smile slightly. "I didn't expect so. So then...?"

"So _then _it's none of your business." Zero sat down at the table, wincing and gingerly hugging his painful, broken ribs as they shifted. _God, it hurt. _He still felt like shit from the beating he'd taken and his impatience was finally getting the better of him. "Can we just get started already?" he said somewhat irritably.

Aido frowned, a little more worried by how bad Zero looked now that he was finally un-fogged enough to begin noticing someone other than himself. "We _are _getting started," he said, gesturing to the box he'd just set on the counter. Zero realized it held packaged syringes and empty ampoules. "I need your blood before I can test it, geez. Roll up your sleeve."

Aido had everything necessary to draw blood readily on hand. He should, he had been testing his own obsessively up until his latest bout of fever. It wouldn't be that hard to simply run Zero's blood through the gamut instead of his.

"We don't have to go to your lab?" Zero asked with a small frown, relieved at not having to take that extra time, but worried about getting accurate results.

"Nope," Aido sighed, snuffling into his tissue before getting a fresh one. Zero realized that there was a tissue box nestled into a corner on almost every flat surface in the room. "I moved a lot of the same equipment in here. I have to be able to test myself every couple hours." Aido had the money and the knowledge to be able to create such a set-up in his own home and it was worth it to him to not have to go to the lab for every test. His lab was still better, but what he had here was more than adequate for his needs.

"Oh, okay." Trusting Aido when it came to all the scientific mumbo-jumbo, Zero unbuttoned his cuff and rolled his sleeve up as directed while Aido retrieved a sterile syringe and a couple of empty ampoules from the box.

Aido tossed Zero an elastic strap. "Tie this around your upper arm," he instructed. The noble was getting very good at drawing blood in the non-vampiric sense, he felt like he could do it in his sleep, which was somewhat disturbing to him.

Zero did as he was instructed and rested his elbow on the table, exposing the inside of both elbow and forearm. Aido caught sight of the blackened, ugly scabs circling Zero's wrist and the faint, black spider lines tracing away from the wounds under his pale skin. They were somewhat lighter and less noticeable than yesterday, but they were still quite visible. The blonde froze, staring at the injuries and suddenly understanding why Zero was moving like he was in so much pain. Those were obviously hunter inflicted injuries and they had to hurt like hell.

The nasty fact that Zero looked like he had been both beaten and restrained was starting to make an impression on Aido and he didn't like it at all. He may give Zero a hard time, but the ex-human was his friend and these were alarming injuries.

"_Good God, _Zero, what happened?" he couldn't help asking yet again. There was a sudden, soft note of concern in Aido's voice that made Zero uncomfortable. It was easier when he and Aido teased and taunted one another. He didn't want the blonde to pity him... and he really didn't want to explain how he'd gotten those wounds.

"I told you, job related," he said quietly, looking away. "Just take the damn blood, all right?"

Aido frowned, turning Zero's arm a little and summarily plunging the needle into the vein. "Okay, fine."

Zero tensed slightly, but Aido knew what he was doing and the bite of the needle lasted only a moment before it faded and he saw the dark, purplish color of his blood filling the vacuum tube attached to the syringe. He had a moment of déjà-vu at the sensation of the needle in his arm and he pressed his eyes closed for a moment, trying not to remember those awful moments in the woods.

"Does Kaname know?" Aido asked as he studiously watched the blood fill the clear chamber and then detached it, replacing it with another empty one to fill.

"Yeah," Zero said simply, opening his eyes again. "But I'd rather he didn't know I asked you to test me again, all right?"

Aido looked up at him with an alarmed and suspicious look on his face. "You're asking me to _lie _to Kaname-sama?"

Zero rolled his eyes. "No, I'm just asking you not to mention it until I talk to him about it myself. Can you do that, Aido? Please?"

Aido hesitated uncomfortably. He removed the last vial and pressed a small wad of cotton over the needle, against Zero's arm, before sliding the hypodermic out of him. His gaze flickered up towards Zero and he saw the earnest entreaty in the violet eyes. He sighed, knowing he would regret this, but unable to say no.

"If you say so," he said with a sigh. "But I want to know what this is all about." His piercing blue eyes held Zero intently.

Zero nodded slowly, knowing he owed Aido that but reluctant to speak just yet. "Okay, but after we have the results, all right?"

Aido looked at him for a long moment, then gathered up the vials of blood and rose to his feet. He threw the capped needle away in a red bio-hazard container which he had sitting next to the trash can. "Okay, Zero. I'll go run the tests, and when I come back, you're going to tell me what's going on."

Zero nodded. "Deal," he said quietly as he rolled his sleeve back down and buttoned the cuff, hiding his injuries once more. "Aido... run a lot of test, okay? Not just for the virus, check everything."

Aido grinned wryly, his expression indicating that Zero had no clue what he was actually asking. "_Everything _is a little broad, Zero. What is it you want me to look for?"

Zero shrugged. "I don't know... anything unusual I guess. Why, is that too hard for you?"

Aido shot him a scowl. "Hardly. Fine, one full scale work up on the way. Settle in and make yourself comfortable, this is going to take a while." He headed for the door. "You owe me, Zero," he added as he swept out of the room.

"Yeah," Zero murmured softly to himself as he leaned both elbows on the table and rested his aching head in his hands. "I know I do."

Aido wasn't kidding about it taking a long time. Zero didn't know if it was because he was impatient or what, but it seemed like it was taking a way longer time then it had the last time he'd been tested. His head was throbbing mercilessly and his raw ribs hurt like the dickens. He was tired, his body craving the rest in an effort to heal and eventually his head sagged forward onto the table, resting on crossed arms as he slid in and out of a light slumber...

"You came an awfully long way to make a few calls, Zero. Was the house phone out of order?" The cool, silky voice behind him made Zero jerk awake and turn around in his chair. The motion was painful and he had to tightly grip the back of the chair with one hand to ground himself as the room spun for a moment.

Blinking the blur of sleep and pain out of his gaze, Zero found that Kaname was standing in the outer doorway to the kitchen. The pureblood was dressed in black jeans and a white button down shirt decorated with black, sweeping gothic lines of embroidery. The word _"Rebel" _ran down one side of the shirt's front while a phoenix spread its wings on the back, wrapping over one shoulder. Both jeans and shirt were Zero's. Even the shoes Kaname was wearing belonged to the hunter, indicating that Kaname had apparently dressed in a hurry in Zero's room and had not bothered sorting through the mess in his own in order to find clothes before going out.

For half a moment, Zero's sleepy mind was unexpectedly captured by how _nice _Kaname looked in his clothes. It was not the way the pureblood normally dressed, but damn if it didn't look good on him. His dark hair and pale skin set off the casual ensemble nicely and if he'd had his ears pierced like Zero's, he would have resembled some deliciously dark and brooding rock star.

He had the brooding part pretty well down, anyway. Kaname's dark eyes were not pleased and Zero found himself inwardly wincing under their piecing gaze.

Zero's gaze darted to the clock on the wall and he realized with a jolt that several hours had passed while he was out of it. _Damn, what the hell was taking Aido so long? _Zero had no concept of how long it could take to do an even partial facsimile of the full workup he had requested of Aido, so this had taken a lot more time than he hoped. Obviously, during that time Kaname had awoken and discovered his absence. Just as obviously, the pureblood had probably gotten very worried about him, which was most likely why he now looked kind of pissed. Zero would have been, if situations were reversed. He knew he should have just told Kaname where he was going, but he hadn't expected it to take this long.

The young hunter didn't bother answering the question, which wasn't really a question. "How'd you find me?" he asked instead, rising gingerly to his feet. It probably wasn't the best response, but he wasn't entirely prepared to go into his reasons for being here at Aido's place just yet. He hadn't wanted to talk to Kaname again until he knew for sure, one way or another. His stomach felt unexpectedly tense and sick and the fact that being confronted with Kaname again made his hunger skyrocket didn't help.

Kaname's eyes narrowed slightly, not liking the implication that Zero hadn't wanted to be found, nor the fact that Zero was obviously hungry and trying to pretend he wasn't. His lover's behavior was kicking off all kinds of warning bells inside him. The pureblood was already in a bad mood and this wasn't helping. Waking up to find Zero nowhere in the house so soon after what had happened in the woods the previous night had scared the crap out of him. He'd been terrified that something had happened, right there under their own roof and somehow he hadn't even known. When he'd found the missing car and finally thought better of that possibility, he'd been equally afraid that Zero had gone off alone and still injured after the people who had hurt him, just because he didn't want Kaname getting involved. He'd been almost literally sick with fear over his lover's wellbeing. To realize that Zero had done this to him on purpose for some reason made him a little angrier than he wanted to admit.

"The car," Kaname said with the cool, emotionless kind of calm which Zero always found irritating. "There's anti-theft GPS trackers in all of them." The pureblood folded his arms as he leaned against one side of the door jam. His body language was deceptively relaxed, but Zero wasn't fooled. This was how Kaname was when he was angry. Usually, unless he was _seriously _pissed, he didn't show outward agitation. Instead he became cooler and more aloof, while at the same time his physical manner became smoother, silkier and sexier. It was the subtle, languid repose of a tiger and the truly weird thing was that there was something strangely alluring about it. Ironically, the more dangerous a pureblood was, the more sensual they seemed to become.

Zero snorted softly. "Why am I not surprised? You don't have one in my bike, do you?"

"Do I need to?" Kaname glided forward a few steps with that same compelling, dangerous grace of his, until he was in Zero's personal space. His dark eyes were intense. Most people would have had cause to feel justly terrified of having that gaze on them, but Zero was not frightened. He knew he had nothing to fear. Usually he would have been angry at Kaname for acting like he had any kind of say about when or where Zero chose to go, but he couldn't really be upset this time. He knew he'd treated his lover pretty poorly by taking off without explanation given everything that had happened.

"You do and you'll regret it," he warned flatly, but his glare was half-hearted at best. Zero didn't really want to fight right now. He didn't want to admit it, but he was feeling rather emotionally drained. He was worried about what Aido might have to tell him when he came back, and he was even more worried about Kaname being there to hear it with him.

Kaname caught Zero's chin in his hand and tipped it up, holding the hunter's amethyst gaze with his own. The touch was commanding but light, gently mindful of Zero's bruises. "Why are you doing this?" Kaname asked quietly and Zero saw the flicker of confusion, hurt and fear that was ill hidden behind the dark, sexy danger in his gaze. "Why did you lie to me and leave without a word?" _I was terrified, Zero. I couldn't find you. Have you any idea how sick with fear I was? _

Kaname just couldn't understand Zero's behavior, it made no sense. This wasn't where he would have expected to find him, and Zero's attitude now was creeping the hell out of him. Something was _wrong._ "Surely, you could have just told me you were coming to Aido's? What are you even doing here? What's going on?"

Zero felt even more like crap than he had before. To make things worse, the traitorous throbbing in his chest was back. Kaname was too close to him and his fangs ached. "I'm sorry..." he whispered hoarsely, trying to pull his head away. He'd not meant to make Kaname worry like that, he just wasn't thinking clearly and he didn't know how to handle his own fears.

Kaname's grip tightened, not letting him go. He was alarmed by what he saw.

"Please..." Zero rasped, his eyes fluxing in and out of red as he struggled to twist his head away. He needed to put some distance between them, but he was in no real condition to put up resistance and Kaname was having none of it.

"Zero..." Kaname gasped softly as he saw his lover fighting desperately to force back the bloodlust that was obviously eating him up. It tore him that Zero was in pain like this and yet struggling to get away from him. Had they really regressed _that _far in so short a time? What the hell was going on?

"All right, well I hope you appreciate how much work this was, Zero. Took me hours and my head is ready to fall off thank-you-very-much, but I got your results and... Kaname-sama!" Aido's voice made both hunter and pureblood look up. The young blonde had just entered the room. He was still in his pajamas, dressing gown and slippers, now with a stack of papers in one hand and his omnipresent tissue in the other. For a moment he just stared at Kaname with a surprised and somewhat dreamy expression. Obviously, he was also affected by the pureblood's unusual garb and the sensual vibe he gave off when he was angry.

"Results?" Kaname's gaze fixed on Aido now. "What results?"

Aido's already pale face seemed to pale farther, accentuating the bags under his eyes. His gaze darted nervously from Kaname to Zero and back. "Um... well..." he seemed torn and unsure of what to do. A coughing fit saved him from having to answer immediately and he pressed the tissue to his mouth, bending over slightly as he hugged his aching ribs while the racking contractions squeezed his chest and lungs.

"Aido was running a test for me," Zero said quietly. He'd seen the panic in Aido's blue eyes and he wouldn't put his friend in the middle like this. He'd made Aido promise not to tell and now Kaname wanted the truth from him. It was a testament to how Aido felt about Zero that he was even hesitating and struggling with what to say. It would never be fair to try to make the blonde choose between their friendship and his utter devotion to Kaname.

Kaname's gaze turned back to Zero, whose chin he was still holding. "What kind of test?" he demanded, his voice hard with worry more than anything else.

"On my blood," Zero admitted quietly, looking anywhere but at Kaname's face. "I asked him to re-run the tests he did on us before. I-I had to be sure."

Anger was completely gone now from Kaname's eyes, replaced by confusion and fear. "Sure of what? You think you might be infected? Zero what happened? What didn't you tell me?"

Zero forced himself to meet his lover's gaze. His hand slid self-consciously to the inside of his elbow. "It's probably nothing, but... after I was attacked in the woods, when they were done beating me, I vaguely remember feeling someone stick me with a needle right before I passed out. They were probably just sedating me," he tried to assure as he saw the horror he'd wanted to avoid creeping into Kaname's startled eyes. "I was out for a lot longer than I should have been after all, but..."

"But you thought it was also possible that you might have been forcefully infected with the virus," Kaname said softly, his fingers incredibly gentle and almost trembling as they stroked Zero's cheek. He couldn't hide the deep, biting terror in his gaze. Understanding dawned and he kicked himself for being so stupid and not figuring it out sooner. He was really off his game. "That's why you wouldn't bite me," he whispered hollowly. "That's why you took off this morning when you're obviously starving. You feared infecting me."

Zero dropped his head. "Yeah," he whispered. "I-I couldn't risk it until I knew for sure." He pressed his palm against Kaname's chest, leaning into him slightly. He never wanted to be used against Kaname like that. _Never. _"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I should have told you, I just... I wanted to know first." His head spun, every breath dragging Kaname's scent into his lungs. His fingers bunched tightly in Kaname's shirt as he continued to prove both how much he loved the pureblood and how iron his resolve could be with each moment that he managed to not succumb to his need for the other vampire's blood.

"Oh my God..." Aido's soft gasp suddenly reminded both vampires that he was still in the room with them. The young noble's face was even whiter than before and the papers he was carrying slid from his slack grip, scattering on the kitchen floor. Finding out why Zero feared he was infected and that he had apparently been attacked and deliberately beaten was utterly disturbing. On top of that, the notion that the ex-human would be a very effective weapon delivery system in getting to Kaname had never crossed Aido's mind before, and it was a terrible thought, for both parties concerned.

"Zero can't take blood tablets, he probably wouldn't show any symptoms of the virus, but as your protégé, people know he's a blood source for you, Kaname-sama. The only sure one you have since you _are _a known blood tablet user." The shock on Aido's face was deep as he knelt to pick up the scattered papers. The thought both horrified him and tugged at something in the back of his mind, but he wasn't sure what it meant, not yet.

Kaname knew Aido was right, it would be a fiendishly clever way to try to get to him, but he couldn't care about that right now. His insides were tied up in too many knots over the possibility that Zero could be sick. The uncertainty the first time they had been tested was bad enough, but imagining that Zero could have been hurt that way _intentionally _made it so much worse. The thought that someone could take the hunter away from him, like Yuki had been taken away was terrible. The black, horrible despair of those thoughts shut down everything else and the pureblood almost couldn't function under their weight. Zero was his weakness in more ways than one.

"You said you had the results, Aido," Kaname's voice was quiet but incredibly forceful. "Is he infected? Is he sick?" The pureblood almost couldn't breathe but he struggled to hold onto his faculties. He reached out and pulled Zero to him, hugging him ever so gently in a gesture of support for whatever they were about to hear.

Zero started to resist, then changed his mind and let Kaname hold him. This was exactly the kind of fear and pain he'd wanted to spare his lover, but he couldn't deny that his support at this moment felt kind of good, despite the hunger eating his insides out.

"No," Aido said quickly, realizing he'd been so shocked that he'd accidently let them fear the worst. "No, he's not. I ran his blood work through every test I could think of that might relate and it's clean. You're not infected, Zero, not even as a carrier." The noble's own deep relief was evident in his voice. He was very glad to be the bearer of good news, for both Zero's sake and Kaname's.

Zero sagged slightly against Kaname in relief. He didn't care if he was being pathetic. He was hungry and hurting and the reprieve of having this fear lifted made him almost faint. "You're sure?" he asked a bit hoarsely.

Aido nodded. "Completely," he assured. "I ran a number of different tests and the only noticeable thing that turned up is that you're currently anemic, which isn't exactly a huge shock." Given time and equipment constraints it wasn't actually possible for him to check _everything _as Zero seemed to think, but he'd checked what he needed to in order to be certain that Zero didn't have the virus and he saw nothing else visibly unusual in the hunter's blood. The level of anemia suggested to Aido that Zero had lost a significant amount of blood recently, which jived with the hazy details he had about what had happened to the hunter.

Kaname's arms tightened around Zero. The young hunter had been badly messed up, but all things considered, he hadn't bled too badly despite his injured wrists. Zero's internal bleeding must have been a lot worse than he thought for it to actually show up on a test.

"Thanks. I'm sorry..." Zero murmured an apology to both vampires present for putting them through all this for nothing. He felt supremely stupid, but he couldn't regret wanting to be careful. He tried to force himself to pull away from Kaname and failed.

Kaname stroked his hair gently. He felt shudders running through the body in his arms. Zero's head shifted restlessly against him. The ex-human was obviously trying hard not to go right for Kaname's neck now that he knew he could. They both knew how cruel it would be to put Kaname's blood in the air around Aido in his current condition.

"No need," Kaname said quietly. He understood now why his lover had acted as he had. He wished Zero would have just told him, but he was hardly one to talk, was he? In any case, it was easy to forgive. "Thank you for your assistance, Aido. Please get some rest," Kaname added gently to the blonde, as he started to steer Zero towards the door.

Aido smiled brightly. "Of course, Kaname-sama." For his part, the young noble was simply relieved that he had been able to give good news. He would probably give Zero endless grief about this at a later date, but he truly did not consider it a waste of time to be sure that Kaname-sama was in no danger... or to be sure that Zero was okay. "Oh!" he exclaimed suddenly. "I almost forgot!"

Aido hurried into the next room and returned a few seconds later. He held out a thin, document size envelope. "I found a draft copy of part of one of my missing reports, I wanted to make sure you had it," he explained, trying very hard not to need to use his tissue when he was this close to Kaname. "I'm sorry, I haven't had time yet to try and reconstruct the others..."

Kaname took the envelope with one hand, his other arm remaining about Zero. The young hunter was all but nuzzling Kaname's neck now and the pureblood knew they needed to get to the privacy of his car swiftly. He shook his head reassuringly. "Do not concern yourself about that right now, Aido. As I said, you should rest."

"Call Kain, someone should be with you," Zero added, the hoarseness in his voice showing the strain of his restraint.

Aido nodded as Kaname guided Zero rapidly to the door and watched with a small smile as the pair took their leave. He knew what was going to happen as soon as they were away, but he was only wistfully jealous.

Running a hand through his tousled hair, Aido poured himself another cup of tea before making his way back into the other room. He retrieved his phone from the desk. After he had called Kain as Zero had suggested, he noticed the waiting messages.

He smiled a little as he noted who they were from. He started the first message, pressed the phone to his ear... and his smile faded.

* * *

The air was heavy with the scent of impending rain as the two vampires stepped outside. Kaname squinted in the muted daylight, but didn't bother with his sunglasses as he and Zero made their way rapidly down the sidewalk.

Zero barely made it to the car. His eyes were red again and he kept them downcast lest anyone notice. He was incredibly glad Kaname had brought a driver so they could be together undisturbed during the drive back. They climbed quickly into the back of the limo together while an extra driver went to collect the car in which Zero had arrived. Leave it to the pureblood to think of everything.

Kaname was already unbuttoning his shirt as they got in, he could tell Zero wasn't going to be able to wait much longer. He told the driver to take them home before closing the privacy partition between the front and back of the vehicle.

As soon as the door shut, Zero shoved Kaname down into the seat, urgently pressing his lover back against the soft leather. The envelope in Kaname's hand fell to the floor and the pureblood's heart sped up as his lover pinned him to the seat. Zero pushed the unbuttoned shirt down off his shoulders quickly and knelt over him. He didn't mean to be so demanding, but he didn't have control anymore. It had taken a lot of strength to wait until they had privacy and now he'd hit his limit. At this point he wasn't even aware of the aggressiveness of his motions as he straddled Kaname's lap and grabbed a fistful of his hair. He tipped the pureblood's head to the side, arching it back over the headrest and exposing his throat.

Kaname allowed Zero to do as he pleased willingly and without protest. He shuddered pleasurably as his lover pushed him down and bared his neck. His body tensed for a moment as he was pinned, vague unease playing at the edges of his awareness. Not fear of Zero, but unease at how much his lover's aggression turned him on. There was part of him that was still confused and unsure if he liked this because it was natural to him or because he had been trained. The seeds of self-doubt Nasser had sown in him were not easily dismissed, but at least for now Kaname banished those feelings firmly and made himself relax. Now was not the time to let his personal demons interfere. He didn't want Zero to sense any kind of hesitancy and misread it. Any illogical apprehension he might feel had _nothing_ to do with Zero.

His hands ran up and down his lover's back as he felt the heat of the hunter's mouth a moment before Zero's fangs penetrated him. His arms tightened around the hunter, holding him close and feeling the rapid beat of his heart. There was no shame in this, surely. He gave only what already belonged to Zero - his blood, his body, his submission, his love. Those were things the hunter could have whenever he wanted them as far as Kaname was concerned. It couldn't be wrong to enjoy something that felt this good, could it? Not when he was with Zero.._. _The pureblood's eyes fluttered closed, his body humming warmly as his blood was drawn with rapid, hungry desperation. _No... there was nothing about this that could ever be wrong. _

Zero pressed tightly to him, almost trembling in relief as the much needed blood flowed into his body. He continued to hold Kaname's hair with one hand while he gripped the back of the seat urgently with the other, his body unconsciously rocking down against Kaname as he fed. The car was moving, but neither of them really noticed.

Kaname relaxed, groaning soundlessly in pleasure. Zero's need and desire had always been deeply compelling to him and his bite felt _so _good. After the first few moments he no longer found Zero's abrupt motions unsettling, he found them sweet and exciting. They were not rough for the sake of being cruel, instead they spoke eloquently of how much Zero needed and wanted him. That was one of the big differences between that which had once hurt Kaname, and that which now fulfilled him.

Rain began to patter slowly against the car, big, fat drops striking the window and running down the glass. As his desperation slowly faded, Zero finally realized what he was doing. The hand in Kaname's hair immediately turned gentle and let go, although he continued gripping the seat as if for balance. His urgent gulps became slower and he carefully started using lips and tongue to pleasure his lover as he finished up.

Kaname moaned audibly this time, the hands stroking Zero's back sliding up to tangle in his hair.

"I'm sorry," Zero murmured guiltily, apologizing for his earlier haste. It hurt him that he had been brusque with Kaname like that. In the past such things had seemed like no big deal, but right now it was a _very_ big deal to Zero. He stroked the other side of Kaname's neck gently with his knuckles as he kissed the healing skin under his mouth. _Crap, what if he'd scared him? _

"Don't be," Kaname murmured reassuringly, not looking the least bit scared or traumatized, much to Zero's relief. His hand slid up under the hem of Zero's shirt and gently touched his stomach. He was pleased to feel the swelling around the bruises beginning to go down. "You didn't do anything wrong," the pureblood whispered, kissing the side of Zero's neck near him.

Zero exhaled pleasurably at the feeling of Kaname's touch on his stomach and neck. He lifted his head. The delicious euphoria that followed drinking that much of Kaname's blood dilated his eyes slightly and he didn't realize that he had blood on his mouth and chin.

Kaname shuddered softly at the compelling sight and leaned forward, licking Zero's lips and kissing him slowly. Zero leaned into him, his hand trailing down across Kaname's collarbone and chest. He knew he shouldn't be feeling the way he was feeling, not right now, it didn't seem appropriate. Too much was happening and Kaname was too vulnerable, despite what he said. But it was so hard for him to be rational he had this much pure blood in him.

"What I want right now, is wrong," Zero murmured hoarsely as he returned Kaname's kisses with slowly building passion.

Both of Kaname's hands slid up under his shirt now. "No, it's not..." the pureblood whispered back, equally hoarse.

* * *

Kain let himself in through Aido's front door, glad he had a key since his cousin apparently wasn't answering the door today. "Hanabusa?" he called, tossing his keys on the table and looking around. Leave it to his cousin to wake him up, ask him to come over and then not even answer the door. He hoped Aido was just being a flake and it wasn't that he was too sick to get up or something.

"Hanabusa?" he tried again, poking his head into the bedroom, but Aido wasn't in there either. Frowning, Kain returned to the living room and it was then that he noticed the note on the table, near where he'd left the keys.

Picking it up, he scanned it and then sighed. "Geez, Aido, running around before sundown, in your condition?" he muttered. Yeah, Aido was being a flake. What else was new? Kain dropped the note back on the table and resignedly made his way over to the couch in front of the television. Flake or no, he'd probably better wait for Aido to come back so he could make sure everything was okay.

The note lay face up on the table, penned in Aido's quick, surprisingly neat hand.

_Kain, got a call from Naija, have to go to the lab. Back in a little bit. Leave more blood._

_-HA_

* * *

Kaname leaned back against the seat of the car, the leather soft against his mostly naked skin, his body cooling slowly as the engine hummed and rain beat down upon the metal roof. He ran his hand through his hair, still in the process of coming down as he watched Zero rummage around between the seats, trying to sort out their tangled clothing with considerable, and adorable, embarrassment.

"I love it when you're impulsive, you know," Kaname murmured.

They hit a bump and Zero banged lightly against the opposite seat. He swore softly, although Kaname thought that might have been directed at him. The hunter's cheeks were pink as he tossed Kaname's shirt and pants at him. "Shut up. You know how it is when I drink too much." Obviously, he meant too much of Kaname's blood, which was considerably more mind-altering than any alcohol.

Kaname was a little happier to cover himself than he would admit since he felt very exposed here in the car, even with the heavily tinted privacy windows, but there was nothing about the past few minutes which he remotely regretted.

Zero looked up as he quickly shrugged back into his shirt and there was a lot of guilt in his eyes. "I'm sorry... I told you we shouldn't have done that. I didn't mean..." He looked away, feeling physically great and mentally terrible. "Did I hurt you?" he asked fearfully. "I didn't mean to."

Kaname sighed as he buttoned his shirt. He didn't like this. He didn't like Zero having to feel guilty and uneasy after something that was perfectly normal for them before. After the other night, Kaname was a little more confident in how Zero felt about him and less terrified of the awkwardness that Nasser had injected into their relationship, but he still deeply regretted that it was there. "Zero... don't, please. Don't treat me like I'm glass," he murmured, focusing on the buttons with more attention than was necessary.

"Sorry," Zero murmured again as he buttoned up his jeans, frustrated that he pretty much screwed up no matter which side of the minefield he tried to walk on. He came across the envelope Aido had given Kaname and put it up on the seat.

Kaname, who had somehow already managed to re-don both jeans and shirt, reached out and caught Zero's face between his hands, making the other boy look at him as he knelt on the car floor in front of his seat. "No, _I'm _sorry," Kaname said quietly, knowing how difficult this must all be for Zero. "I'm sorry things are weird. You're not doing anything wrong. This isn't your fault, it's m-"

Zero leaned forward and kissed Kaname before he could finish, making any further words unnecessary. _Don't say it. Don't say it's your fault, Kaname. It isn't. It's __**his **__and I'll be damned if I let even his memory keep hurting you like this. _

When the kiss ended Zero slid his shirt back on and curled up on the seat, lying down on it lengthwise. He was tired after everything that had happened. He was mending quickly now, but it had been a long road to get there. Kaname patted his thigh in invitation and Zero scooted a little closer, laying his head on the pureblood's lap.

Kaname stroked his hair lightly as silence settled comfortably between them. They were almost home. Kaname felt good, but his thoughts were not entirely at ease. They went too easily down dark roads if he allowed them and the pureblood pressed his eyes closed tight, concentrating on the soft, precious feel of Zero's hair under his fingers and the weight of his head on his lap.

After a moment, Kaname picked up the envelope that Zero had placed beside him on the other side of the seat. It wasn't sealed and he easily slid a thin sheaf of paper out of it using only one hand, allowing his other to remain on Zero's head. As Aido had said, the pages proved to be a rough draft of one of the many reports he had written for Kaname while he was working abroad for Diachi Sato. Kaname had in fact read Aido's other reports, or at least, he'd skimmed them and given them to Seiren to read in case there was anything important in there. In his defense he'd been very busy the past few days and Aido had written him almost a full box worth of missives, most of which went into detail on unimportant, everyday matters concerning the operations of the lab and his dealings with the other scientists.

Kaname scanned these pages now mostly for something to do other than be alone with his thoughts, but as he read, the pureblood's eyebrows began to knit.

* * *

Aido hurried through the rain under the shelter of his umbrella. He sneezed, then sneezed again. At least the cloud cover all but negated the late evening sunlight, but the damp air was not doing his stuffy sinuses any favors.

He held his phone pressed to his ear, juggling it and the umbrella as the wind tugged at his raincoat and whipped it about his legs. "Naija? It's me again. Call me, please." Aido left yet another message for her. He hung up and tried her work phone again. Ahead of him, the doors to his lab automatically read his bio signature and swept open for him. At least he didn't have to fight with them too.

Holding his phone between shoulder and ear as he folded the umbrella and tried not to drip all over, Aido was focused on the ringing on the other end of the line, his deep concern over the messages he'd gotten and his aching head. His immediate surroundings did not take much priority. He hurried down the corridor towards his lab without looking back, and he did not hear the nearly silent movement behind him, nor see the shadow that slipped through the automatic doors just before they closed.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Zero asked with a small frown when he came downstairs after his shower to find Kaname in his study with folders and documents strewn all over the top in cluttered but orderly piles.

Kaname was frowning deeply now, shifting through the papers which were a mix of typed pages and pages filled with Aido's neat, flowing hand writing. He tapped one of the smaller piles that only had two pieces of paper in it. "This is the draft of the report Aido gave us before we left. The rest of these are his other reports. He was very methodical in his record keeping. Each report is dated the same day of the week, exactly two weeks apart... but there are gaps in them." Kaname tapped several different piles. "Here, here, here..." He shook his head.

Zero's brows furrowed, not really getting why this was important. "Right... those are probably the ones he lost when he shipped them back home?" He remembered the argument he'd overheard between Aido and Kain on that topic.

Kaname nodded. "Yes, but there's something wrong about this." He should have seen it before, but he'd not been paying enough attention and it hadn't seemed important at the time. "The missing reports are not all in a sequential group as you would expect if it was merely an accident. The gaps are scattered all over throughout the timeline."

Zero's confused look turned suddenly suspicious instead. "You mean, you think someone deliberately went through and removed only those particular ones?"

Kaname nodded. "I do. I should have seen it before, but a number of the missing reports are from the beginning of his stay abroad. I didn't realize his documentation had actually been so regular, the gaps made it seem random until you evaluate the whole more carefully."

Zero cast him a worried gaze. "But why would anyone take the reports from way back then? I could understand if they had to do with the virus, but why bother with anything from before he even went to An'swala? What could they contain that would be worth stealing?"

Kaname's face was set and grim. He was getting the nasty feeling that he was being lied to and manipulated. "Information regarding Diachi Sato's dealings and things that happened at his labs, perhaps?" he hazarded and Zero noted the dark look in the pureblood's eyes.

"That was the content of this report," Kaname tapped the small stack again. "This report is a partial copy of one that went missing. It's apparently from a time when Diachi was at the lab personally overseeing a project. There is no other mention of this in any of Aido's reports and I don't even know what the project was. All the reports from that date range are missing."

Zero started to say something, but Kaname held up his hand, indicating he hadn't finished. "Oh wait, it gets better. In this draft, Aido briefly mentions a conversation with Diachi regarding Aido's previous work on the blood tablet project. Apparently, Diachi was very interested in the topic."

The hunter felt the hair on the back of his neck prickle. Aido had been heavily involved in development and testing of the current line of blood tablets back when he was at the Academy. If you wanted to know all about them, you couldn't have picked a better person to go to. Was it a coincidence that this sudden interest should coincide closely with the discovery of a virus that just _happened _to be targeting blood tablet users? Was it a coincidence that the one person who knew the most about them, had been sent to where he could become infected? "You thick it could be Diachi who had Aido's reports censored?"

"I think it is a logical possibility that we can't ignore," Kaname concurred cautiously. He reached over and picked up the phone, quickly punching in a number. There were too many facts adding up too quickly and he didn't like the picture that any of them were forming.

"Yes, but I don't see what he would have had to gain really, I mean, doesn't taking those reports just highlight their possible significance? Even if he took a bunch of unnecessary ones as well to try and confuse the matter, Aido can simply try to remember or reconstruct what's missing, right? Destroying the reports don't make much sense while..." Zero suddenly stopped, a hard, cold chill of apprehension and fear racing up his spine.

Kaname caught and held his gaze, mirroring his concern. He quietly finished Zero's awful thought. "It doesn't make much sense, while Aido's still _alive_."


	27. Falling Hard Upon Us All

_A/N: Well, although this should no longer be a surprise to anyone, I didn't get as far in this chapter as I initially intended, but there certainly is a lot of information coming out now, including what happened to Zero and why. :D There are more twists yet to come, so buckle your seat belts and hang on... ;) _

_There's a lot of things coming out all at once in this chapter, and there is no real way to show it except for having it all click in Kaname's and Zero's minds at different points. Hopefully the explanation bits don't get too long or dry or anything :S *frets* Review responses are in my forum, as usual. _

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: "Falling Hard Upon Us All"**

Kaname frowned as Aido's cell phone rang several times and then went to voicemail. He hung up and called his ground line instead. This time, the phone was answered after only two rings, although it was not Aido's voice on the line.

"Kain, is Aido in the room with you? I need you to..."

Zero didn't like the way Kaname's sentence was interrupted mid-stream, nor the way the pureblood's gaze continued to darken, his shoulders tensing. "Where did he go? When?" Kaname waited just long enough to hear the answers to the questions before hanging up, probably leaving a very confused and Kain on the other end.

"We have to go," he told Zero somewhat unnecessarily, already on his feet and striding out of the room with the hunter hot on his heels. "Kain said that Aido's out. Left a note saying he was going to his lab after getting a phone call from Dr. Kish."

Zero immediately smelled something rotten about the timing of all this and the people involved. "Isn't that that one of the scientists he worked with in An'swala?" He had a bad feeling about this.

Kaname nodded once as they hurriedly made their way towards the foyer. "One of _Diachi's _scientist," he confirmed. "We should hurry." He knew it was quite possible that they were over-reacting. After all, Aido had been working with those scientists for some time now and if someone wanted him out of the way they could already have already taken him out. On the other hand, however, they could have been waiting for the virus to do it for them and the fact that it had not yet succeeded might soon prompt someone to take more drastic measures. It was a chance Kaname was unwilling to take. Even if nothing was amiss at the moment, the sooner they got Aido somewhere safe, the better.

Kaname paused as he and Zero gabbed their overcoats. He looked towards the garage but then headed for the front door instead. Aido's lab was a lot further away than his house. It would take time to get there. Somehow, he had an uncomfortable gut feeling that time was something they didn't have. He stepped out onto the stoop and looked up at the dark sky, the sound of the steadily falling rain filling his ears. The sun had just about set and behind the cloud cover it might as well be night. He was still slightly fatigued from yesterday and from all the blood he had recently given Zero, but it would not be too great a stretch for him to do what needed to be done. He glanced towards Zero, who had stepped out onto the porch with him.

"I don't think we should waste time with the car," Kaname said quietly, extending his hand to Zero. "Do you trust me?"

Zero guessed what Kaname intended to do and placed his hand into the pureblood's without hesitation. "You know I do," he said quietly. He saw a faint, sweet smile play around Kaname's lips for just a moment before the world fragmented into fluttering swirl of shadows. This time, Zero remembered to inhale first.

The world reformed around him what seemed like only seconds later, although the growing night seemed to have gotten darker. For a moment he was only aware of a blur of shapes and shadows. Puddles like black glass reflected distorted reflections of lighted windows while the rain created halos around street lights. He could see these things like images on a silent TV screen, but he was not a part of them. Then everything came together like a train rushing out of a dark tunnel and he could hear the rain and the sound of traffic on the nearby road and smell the earthy, oily dampness of the drenched pavement on which they now stood. Rain beat upon his long overcoat and uncovered head, startling him.

The hunter was only a little out of breath this time. The journey was much less shocking the second time around. Having Kaname himself traveling with him seemed to make the whole thing even smoother and he remembered less of the transition than when he had been transported by the pureblood's shade. He had not made this kind of trip on his feet before though and he stumbled as the ground seemed to rush up to meet him.

Kaname caught his elbow, steadying the hunter and quickly guiding him forward across the parking lot towards the familiar building which Zero now realized was Aido's lab. A few feet away, Zero saw Aido's car parked on the wet, inky pavement, the rain making a staccato noise as it struck the polished exterior. Regaining himself quickly, the hunter glanced towards Kaname as the pureblood strode swiftly ahead. Kaname's collar was turned up and his hair and rain coat were dripping. Somehow, he seemed wetter than Zero felt and the hunter wondered if it was because his lover had been more exposed during their trip, in whatever form it had taken.

Kaname ignored the faint weariness aching in his bones as they landed and headed quickly for the entry to the laboratory compound. It would actually have been faster and much less tiring for him to simply run here at vampire speed without the necessity of changing his entire shape, but he wasn't sure Zero could have kept up for that long. His lover was still recovering from last night, now was not the time to be pushing his limits. This really wasn't Kaname's preferred mode of travel and recent events were all conspiring against him, but he could handle it. His steps were swift and sure as he held Zero's elbow, steadying him until it was no longer necessary.

The doors ahead of them swooshed silently open upon recognizing Kaname's bio-signature and the two vampires made their way inside. The sudden cessation of rain and the quiet that fell as the doors closed behind was somehow unsettling. Even more unsettling, was the distinct smell of blood that greeted them.

Everything was much too quiet as they hurried down the passageway, deeper into the lab. The whir and hum of Aido's lab equipment that they both remembered from previous visits was eerily absent and the air itself seemed to have changed. There was a damp, creeping chill that felt too pronounced and out of place. The smell of blood increased rapidly until it filled both vampires' senses with its coppery scent while simultaneously filling their hearts with dread.

_Aido's blood._ The air was thick with it.

The scene was surreal when they entered the main area of the lab. Zero remembered what it had been like from their visit not so long ago, but it was almost unrecognizable now. Destruction and chaos reigned supreme, literally frozen in place as if suspended in a moment of cataclysmic upheaval.

There was ice, everywhere. It glistened and dripped in the muted, florescent light, melting slowly and explaining the damp chill in the hall. Computer equipment was smashed and scattered everywhere. Furniture was broken and overturned. Most of it was trapped in jagged, glacial swells of frost which filled the room like the inside of some arctic cave. A chair hung suspended more than six feet in the air, half in and half out of a wall of ice. Papers scattered in a cloud as if they had just been thrown were trapped inside a glassy swell, frozen like a woolly mammoth preserved in time. Sheets of glistening, condensing hoarfrost ran up the walls and icicles lay in broken shards of upon the ground, gradually turning into pinkish puddles which blended the chaos into a soupy mess on the floor, squelching under Kaname and Zero's shoes as they entered. The only sound in the perfectly still room was the steady _drip, drip_ of water trickling from the lips and edges of the melting ice and the whir of the laboratory's central air system.

Zero's breath fogged on the damp, chilled air as he took in the scene, automatically reaching for his gun only to remember darkly that he didn't have it. The ice was a disturbing, pinkish color, splashed with brilliant dashes of red. There was blood blended with the ice, a lot of blood. With so much of it all around them, it was difficult to tell if all of it was Aido's, or if some of it belonged to anyone else. Aido's was the scent they recognized, so it was the one that stood out.

Kaname's whole body tensed and he stood still as a stone in the center of the chaos. He could sense no one else present in the icy cavern, either friend or foe, but he remained warily on guard. The amount of blood present clouded the senses and made accurate readings of the surroundings difficult. "Aido?" he called quietly, not wanting to admit that he did not expect an answer. He could not afford to show how sick he felt. _Whatever had happened here was his fault. He should have made these connections sooner. How had he missed that the young noble's life was in danger? _

"Aido!" Zero echoed the call a little louder, picking his way rapidly but warily down one side of the room in search of his friend, or of further indications of what might have happened here. Obviously, Aido had been in a fight, the ice and chaos were proof of that. He had probably been attacked and defended himself. But what had happened then? The hunter was sorely missing the familiar weight of the Bloody Rose, but he had a long knife sheathed in the inner lining of his coat if he needed it. His hand remained within easy drawing distance, although he felt depressingly certain that whatever had happened here was already done and over. His hunter senses were not picking up any living vampires in the vicinity other than Kaname. That wasn't always accurate though, right? There were many things that could interfere with him getting an accurate read, especially all this blood. He couldn't be _sure..._

Kaname mirrored Zero's movements down the other side of the room, keen eyes scanning the chaos for indications of what had transpired. They circled the whole area slowly, confirming that there was no one here. The room had several exits, but most of them were blocked by the ice and chaos. Only two doorways remained mostly unobstructed, the one they had come through and another at the far end of the large room that was only partially blocked by a chunk of machinery which looked like it had recently broken free of the ice holding it and landed there.

"The computer equipment is smashed," Kaname observed quietly, his mind quickly drawing the connections and inferences that it found so easy to build. There was a growing edge of darkness in his tone that added to the general chill in the room. "The furniture and lab equipment damage seems incidental to whatever struggle happened in here, but the computer equipment as a whole is completely destroyed. I doubt that was accidental. Someone wanted to obliterate what was on there."

"His research?" Zero asked with a frown, crouching down on the wet, slippery floor as something caught his attention.

"Possibly... but that would mean whoever did it was unaware that Aido sent a full copy of all his findings to my office yesterday," Kaname's gaze was thoughtful as he searched the room yet again. Aido had taken that precaution after the troubling phone conversation with Dr. Kish that he had reported to Kaname. That information was now secured by Kuran Corporate security and you would have to launch a small scale war to get to it there.

"Or that what they wanted to get rid of was from more recently than that," Zero agreed distractedly as he studied the strange marks on the floor, wiping away the bloody water that obscured them.

"Zero, be careful, don't touch anything," Kaname warned, coming over and crouching beside the hunter with a warning hand on his shoulder. They were surrounded by Aido's tainted blood and after the scare they'd had less than a few hours before, the pureblood didn't want to take chances.

Zero reluctantly pulled his hand back and shook it dry, wiping his fingers on the hem of his coat. His brows furrowed as he studied the floor.

Kaname looked, but all he could see was a scratched indent surrounded by a small, blackened ring that spread out like an electrical burn on the tile before disappearing under the ice. "What is it?"

Zero shook his head. "Not sure." The marks were oddly familiar. They looked like what happened when you fired an anti-vampire weapon at an inanimate object at close range. He turned his head when he heard Kaname's coat rustling and saw that the pureblood had pulled his phone from his pocket. Kaname rose to his feet again and pressed it to his ear.

"Kain, are you still at Aido's?" Kaname's voice was calm and controlled, but Zero could see the tension in his lover's body. "Good. Listen to me carefully. Get Ruka to join you, right away. Bring in others as well. See if Ichijo and Shiki are still in town, or if not call on some of your other friends, but do _not _be alone there. Gather up anything of Aido's which might have information on it – his computers, notebooks, files, _anything _and protect them. All of you stay there until I tell you otherwise."

Zero couldn't hear what Kain said in reply to these strange and disturbing orders, but his voice sounded very worried, as well it might.

Kaname shook his head, fingers curled tightly around the phone. "I don't know," he said quietly, and Zero could guess that Kain must have asked if Aido was all right. "Just stay there and do as I've said. Zero and I are taking care of matters." Kaname flipped his phone shut and pocketed it without further reassurance. He had none to give and telling Kain what they had found here, when they needed him to stay where he was, would not have been kind.

Zero wondered how Kain could obey those instructions. If he'd just gotten a call like that regarding someone he cared about it wouldn't matter who had told him to stay put. He trusted Kaname with his life, but he had never been able to follow anyone blindly. It was probably best at the moment that the other nobles could, however, because Zero understood what Kaname was doing. If Aido's research was the target, then they both knew that the young vampire had actually been doing his most recent work from home, not from the lab. It was possible that it could become a target, which was why Kain should not be there alone. Aido had been in a weakened state, but you still had to be pretty damn powerful, or have superior numbers to take on a noble class vampire and not be eliminated on the spot.

"Kain is strong, he and Ruka should more than be able to deal with anything that turns up, and if they have help, all the better," Kaname said quietly. Zero couldn't help feeling like the pureblood was trying to reassure himself, more than his companion. Kaname circled around the room again, pausing near the other end. This time it was he who crouched down to look at something. Zero saw the lithe body stiffen as if he'd been slapped and quickly made his way over.

Wordlessly, Kaname held up his hand to show that it was streaked with something dark and wet. It looked like caked ash and it took Zero a moment to realize what it was. When he did, his stomach curdled and he found himself bending over further, hands gripping above his knees tightly as an almost physical pain twisted inside him. It had been easy to miss at first because the melting ice and water saturating the room was blending everything together into a slushy puddle. When Zero looked closely at that terrible stain on his lover's fingers, however, there could be no doubt. Those were vampire ashes. The hunter seen far too many not to recognize the faint, distinct scent of them, even through the dilution of the water and blood.

Zero's reaction told Kaname everything he hadn't wanted to know. He'd already known, of course, but he wanted to believe he was mistaken. Zero had actually seen more dead vampires than he had. Kaname told himself firmly that they mustn't draw conclusions yet, they had no way of knowing who the ashes had once been. Aido's attacker or attackers had likely also been vampire, so it could be one of them... but realistically, both pureblood and hunter knew how thin that hope was. Aido had been weak, vulnerable, and probably caught by surprise.

Zero pressed his eyes shut. He'd been with the other young vampire barely two hours ago, less that that even. It seemed unreal. He should have learned long ago that life was prone to taking terrible turns without any warning, but sitting across the kitchen table from Aido, he'd never imagined this could happen. _Oh god..._

Kaname stood stiffly. They were near the only other door to the room which wasn't frozen completely shut. Kaname shoved the heavy bit of broken lab equipment blocking it out of the way tried the handle. The door was stuck and the pureblood gave it a hard wrench, yanking it off the frame and tossing it aside.

Zero glanced up as the pureblood stalked into the dark hallway beyond, obviously more in search of some air and composure than anything else. He could tell Kaname was taking this hard and he didn't blame him. The sick feeling that had entered his gut from the moment he'd set foot in this room had blossomed into something heavy and painful. He'd been around a lot of death in his life, but that never prepared you to see it happen to someone you cared about. He knew they shouldn't be assuming Aido was dead... but it was really hard not to. They would have the remains tested of course, but they were so compromised that a positive ID might not even be possible.

He dropped his gaze to the floor, morbidly unable to help trying to trace the outline of the ashes as if thinking that somehow he should just be able to _tell, _no matter how much he knew that wasn't possible. The sodden tiles and debris scattered about made it impossible to even discern the deceased's shape, however. It was as if the vampire had never been. Feeling numb, Zero righted an overturned chair that had fallen beside what was left of the ashes. As the debris below the chair shifted, something caught his eye.

Crouching down, Zero brushed aside the scattered, sodden remains of several notebooks and fished out the item which he had seen. The sorrow inside him solidified into something confused and unpleasantly ugly. He didn't know how to understand what he'd just found and the world actually almost seemed to spin.

"Kaname!" the intended shout came out as more of a whisper, but the shock in his voice brought the pureblood quickly back into the room. Kaname emerged from the hallway with a questioning look. When he saw what Zero had seen, he too froze in shock and confusion.

There, in Zero's hand, lay the Bloody Rose.

* * *

Seiren brushed a strand of hair behind her ear as she tapped away a keyboard, monitoring her extensive information network for any new developments that might prove of interest. She took the job of being Kaname's eyes and ears very seriously, and to be honest, she enjoyed it. Keeping track of events happening all over the world, analyzing them and looking for connections and patterns was like a game to her, much like a giant three-dimensional crossword puzzle that always had new spaces to fill.

Rain drummed on the window. Kaname had seen fit to go off without her, which was not a terribly unusual occurrence, especially when Kiriyu was with him. Left to her own devices, she utilized the time to check in with a number of her various contacts and sort through the underground intelligence chatter.

After a few minutes, she came across something that captured her attention. With focused efficiency, she quickly dug deeper, concern edging into her thoughts. Information was sketchy... it could be nothing, but... Suddenly alerts started flashing on her screen as new information from sources she had just flagged for follow up started streaming in. Someone else must have made the same connections she had and it was as bad as she had feared.

Seiren frowned, studying her screen. She didn't entirely know what this meant, but it wasn't going to be good. She knew Kaname was busy, but he needed to hear about this right away, before anyone else started calling him about it and caught him unawares. She reached for her phone.

* * *

Zero stared at the familiar weapon in stunned horror. The graceful silver lines of the gun were smudged with blood and dirt. His hands moved somewhat automatically, starting to wipe it clean and check the load. For a moment, he simply could not begin to imagine how it had gotten _here._ Then a much worse thought stabbed through him and he froze. Had someone used it to kill Aido? Or tried to? He recalled the marks he'd seen on the floor and knew that he'd not been imagining things. They _were_ familiar. They should be; they had been made by his gun.

There was blackened flesh on the grip and barrel, indicating that a vampire had gripped at it too tightly. Zero had hunter blood to counter his vampire nature. He could handle hunter weapons, but someone like Aido or Kaname could not, at least, not without great difficulty. Actually, not all hunters who had been turned could handle them either, especially older, more powerful weapons like the Bloody Rose. It was something of an anomaly that it had accepted Zero when Cross passed it on. Had Aido grabbed at the weapon during the fight, or was the charring from someone else?

Kaname saw the pain and the awful questions roiling along with the shock in Zero's eyes as the hunter slowly looked up.

"It's been fired, recently," the ex-human's tone was hollow. It was fairly safe to assume that this gun had killed today, he just didn't know _who_. He was terribly afraid that he wasn't going to like the answer. He had once come very close to shooting Aido himself, but that seemed like a very long time ago now. The thought that his friend might have seen the gun, might have recognized it in his last moments hurt more than the young hunter wanted to admit. His violet eyes looked almost silver in the eerie blue cast that the melting ice lent to the room, and Kaname saw another clear emotion emerging: _guilt_.

"However this got here and for whatever purpose it was brought, this is not your fault, Zero," the pureblood said quietly, but with conviction. If there was any blame to be had here, it was all squarely on his own shoulders for being so distracted he hadn't seen the threads converging until it was too late. If Aido had paid the price for that, it was going to carve a wound inside him that would take a long, long time to heal. One of many. One for every person he'd failed.

Kaname knew he couldn't focus on the pain right now, however. They still couldn't be 100% certain that Aido was in fact dead for one thing, and for another having the Bloody Rose turn up here suddenly threw open a whole, staggering new load of questions and connections that he was struggling to process. It was as if several jumbled balls of yarn had just been dropped into their laps and his mind was spinning as he tried to find the ends, untangle them and follow them back to their source. Nothing made sense.

"I don't get it..." Zero breathed, obviously trying to work out the same jumble with little success. "Why here? How is this connected to what happened to me? It can't be the same hunters..." he shook his head. _Could it? _That was crazy! Beating up on him was one thing, but out and out murdering a noble-blood vampire without orders or provocation was a good way to get yourself locked up or dead. Had someone besides Kaname and Diachi's inner circles somehow found out that Aido was infected? Were the hunters worried what would happen if he spread the deadly disease back to the human population here? Maybe... Zero knew that was something they _would _be very worried about if and when they found out, but that didn't fit with their other theory. Hadn't Kaname been worried that Diachi Sato was the one interested in having Aido removed? How did these seemingly unconnected events even relate? The incomprehensible complexity of the questions almost made his head ache.

The phone in Kaname's pocket buzzed and he pulled it out, glancing at the number before flipping it open. "Seiren?"

Zero was concerned to see shock register on Kaname's face, and even more concerned when the shock bled into dark, brooding anger.

"Are you sure?" the pureblood's tone was dangerously clipped. "All of them? When did this happen? I see..."

"What?" Zero mouthed, frustrated at only hearing half of the conversation, but Kaname held up a hand asking for his patience.

"I see. Thank you. Yes, go to the office immediately please. Find out everything you can and get on damage control if necessary. Look up all the information on those four you can find and send it to me as soon as possible. No, don't call him. I expect he's going to be calling me very soon."

Kaname hung up and Zero looked at him questioningly, although he almost wasn't sure at this point if he really wanted to know. "What's going on? Who's going to be calling you?"

"Diachi Sato, if I'm not very much mistaken," Kaname said with such clear acid in his tone that it almost surprised the hunter. "Seiren informs me that sometime yesterday, four vampires were killed in Diachi's territory. A positive ID on all four victims has just been finalized. Care to guess who they were?"

Zero's face paled as a horrible connection started to emerge. "The other scientists from An'swala?"

Kaname's smile was bitter. "The coincidence rather stretches credulity, don't you think? Either we have both been targeted, or _someone_ is cleaning house." He was still trying to make all the connections, but the pieces were starting to fit in at least one corner of the puzzle. If Diachi did have something to hide regarding the creation of the virus, then getting rid of witnesses and liabilities was a logical first step. Perhaps Aido's discovery of the strange paper trail leading back to earlier involvement in An'swala had been the catalyst for all of this. Perhaps Diachi had somehow manipulated the hunters by leaking information the virus' deadly effect on humans in order to get them to do his dirty work for him. He still couldn't figure out how the attack on Zero fit into all this though and that discrepancy worried him.

The phone in his hand buzzed again and the way Kaname's face darkened when he looked at the number told Zero that the pureblood had been right about whom to expect.

Zero could feel Kaname's displeasure seeping from him in cold, icy waves as he flipped the phone open, turned up the volume and pressed it to his ear.

"Hello, Diachi. How are you?" he inquired, glancing around at the torn up lab and bloody ice surrounding them and only just hiding the edge in his voice. Zero knew his lover cared about Aido much more than he usually let on. Aido was like a little brother - a pesky, trouble-making, hero-worshiping kid brother to be sure, but still very dear to the pureblood. His possible loss was something that neither Kaname nor Zero was able to take lightly. There were the other possible implications that Diachi's apparent betrayal opened up as well. Both pureblood and hunter were almost consciously trying not to say it, trying not to stir up the hurt that would come from even tentatively connecting this situation to what had happened to Yuki years ago, but neither was having much luck suppressing the thought anyway.

Kaname had turned the volume up enough so that Zero could hear both sides of the conversation this time and the hunter heard Diachi's slightly chilly response. "Not so well, Kaname. I've just had some disturbing news. It might interest you to know that four of my best scientists have turned up dead." There was an underlying razor edge to the other pureblood's tone that was not muted by the distance it was traveling to reach them.

Kaname frowned cautiously. He hadn't expected Diachi to take quite so direct or hostile an approach and he was wary, not sure yet where this game was heading. Given Diachi's tone, he decided that feigning ignorance was a waste of time and decided to see what response he would get if he pushed a little. "Let me guess, Doctors Kish, Granger, Embry and Haung, am I right?" he responded coolly. "That must have been some accident to just _happen _to take them all out at the same time."

"It was no accident," Diachi's cultured voice was holding steady, but Zero could practically feel the glacial chill it held; it was as cold as the room in which they stood. He knew the other pureblood was probably just a damn good actor, they all were, but he certainly managed to _sound_ like he was almost as pissed off as Kaname.

"You think someone targeted them, specifically?" Kaname asked carefully, trying to feel the other pureblood out. It would have been easy for Diachi to sweep the deaths of his own subordinates under the rug. He could have arranged lab accidents, suicides or just about _anything._ The fact that he was instead calling the deaths out as something worthy of note was unsettling. That meant it was part of his plan for them to be noticed. He wanted something and their deaths must be part of getting it. Kaname was starting to get a bad feeling about this.

"Let me see... they all died in the same few hour window around midnight last night, in three _different_ locations scattered all over the city. Yes, given their obvious connection, I'd say we could safely assume that they were targeted, wouldn't you? Actually, I'd go a step further and say they were _murdered_. Hunted down and murdered. And when I say _hunted, _I mean it literally." Diachi's voice had taken on a cool, smooth, dangerously sexy tone that heralded underlying anger.

An unpleasant sensation gripped Kaname's stomach. Diachi shouldn't be telling him this unless it was part of his game, but he couldn't see where it was going. He felt uncomfortably blind. "You think the hunters are involved?" Kaname was trying to keep his voice neutral, but standing here next to what were very probably Aido's ashes made it especially hard.

"Hunters? No, I think _a _hunter was involved. In fact, I _know _he was," Diachi was no longer bothering to hide the out and out accusation in his voice.

The unease in Kaname's gut began to tighten exponentially. "I don't believe I understand what you're trying to say, Diachi," the cool, lethal drop in his tone was clear. Despite what he said, he suddenly understood all too well. "Perhaps you had better elucidate."

"Perhaps I should, and perhaps _you _had better tell me where your little hunter pet is right now," Diachi retorted.

Kaname's eyes flashed at the ridiculous and dangerous implication. "Don't be a fool, Diachi. If you think-"

"I _think,_" Diachi cut him off, "That you severely underestimate me, Kaname. I know you're young, but youth does not excuse the stupidity of coming onto _my _territory and touching _my _people. I _know _you know better. Did you think I wouldn't know the work of a hunter when I saw it, or recognize the smell of that half breed's blood, after all the times I've seen him with you? Of course, maybe the true failure lies with him. Tell me, Kaname, did he neglect to mention to you how sloppy he'd been?"

The already chilly temperature of the room dropped further as Kaname's whole countenance darkened with rage. "You have no idea how absurd you're making yourself sound right now," he warned, his contained tone seething with ire. Diachi accusing him of being behind this was bad enough, but dragging Zero into it was unforgivable. "I had _nothing _to do with this and you know that. If your plan is to paint me as the villain here, then I'd say I _over _estimated you and your intelligence."

Zero was trying to understand what was happening. _Him? _Diachi was accusing _him _of doing this? _What the_ _hell? _His hunter senses were making his flesh crawl as a result of the aggression rolling off of Kaname. It was a good thing Diachi wasn't physically present or the similar feelings radiating from him would have put the hunter into battle mode pretty quick. Both pureblood vampires clearly wanted blood, preferably each other's.

"You might as well drop the act, Kaname. Trust me; it's far too late for that. Be forewarned, I've already sent out word - if Kiriyu is still _anywhere _in my territory, you'll be getting his head in a box." Diachi didn't even bother to veil the contempt in his threat; he was obviously through playing at civility.

Zero flinched as Kaname's aura flared painfully in his senses before the pureblood could get it back under control. Diachi had crossed a far more dangerous line than he realized. "If you or any of your people _ever _touch a _hair _on Zero Kiriyu's head, I will come for your heart, Sato," Kaname promised. His countenance gave the graceful, deadly impression of a rearing cobra with hood fully flared and fangs bared.

"Zero is standing right here with me, by the way," he added coldly once he'd purged enough of the protective rage burning in his chest to be able to speak again. It was wickedly clever of Diachi to try and reverse culpability like this, to take all his own actions and blame them on someone else, but there was no way Kaname would let it stand. "I already told you, if this is your game, it isn't going to work. You can shift the blame all you want, but I know the truth so you don't have to practice your 'outraged innocence' act on me. Come on, Diachi, this is terribly convenient timing, isn't it? And this plan of yours isn't even that good. Did you have to come up with it too quickly to work out the kinks? Did Dr. Kish starting asking uncomfortable questions about a certain, inconvenient paper trail make you too nervous to wait? Yes, I know about that in case you were wondering."

Zero listened to the conversation with an uneasy feeling. There was something raw and angry in Kaname that did not usually show itself when he was in what Zero called "game mode". It wasn't anything definable, but it felt somehow as if Kaname was perhaps more emotionally engaged and less objective than usual. The young pureblood's confidence had been shaken and his equilibrium badly thrown by recent events. This new revelation of betrayal, Aido's probable death and the threats against Zero were obviously making matters worse. It was ironic, Zero supposed. Who would have thought he'd be concerned because Kaname_ wasn't _pulling off his usual aloof, unflappable facade that normally irritated the ex-human so?

"Don't you dare even _mention _her name to me," Diachi retorted, sounding strangely none too composed himself. "The only person this is convenient for is _you. _With them gone, they can't possibly infect anyone else with that virus which messes with your pretty little plans, can they? I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that Dr. Aido is no longer with us either, right?" The elder pureblood's sardonic tone was biting. "What do you intend to do, Kaname? Kill every vampire in An'swala too? Is that why you're _really _so obsessed with getting a foothold into that country through their oil industry? You know the ironic thing is that I don't really care _what_ you want to do there; you could have burned it to the ground if that suited you and I would have looked the other way, but this... this was nothing short of _stupid._ Watch-guarding my own is _my _affair, _not _yours. We had an accord, I trusted you, Kuran."

"Trust?" Kaname laughed the word bitterly. "Apparently that's a term you throw around lightly. All this time you've been _helping _me with my pharmaceutical research, and you were laughing up your sleeve because you already _know _everything there is to know about these pathogens, don't you?" The young pureblood's voice trembled slightly with rage. _What if Diachi had been behind it all from the start? Even... even Yuki? _Granted, he wasn't sure why that would make sense yet, but he _had_ turned to Diachi for assistance afterwards, which had benefited the Sato family both politically and financially. _God... _he'd possibly gone to Yuki's _killer_ for could have gutted himself for being so stupid.

"Just like An'swala, where you knew about the virus long before you claim," he continued tersely, far too angry to hold any suppositions back now. Diachi was right about one thing - it was time to lay their cards on the table and see the true face of the enemy. "You needed Aido to perfect the targeting system towards blood tablet users, and when you were done with him, you sent him into harm's way. Great way to both test your virus' effectiveness and eliminate him, right? Only when that failed to kill him fast enough you had to find another way to finish the job. My only question now is – did you create that other strain of the virus too? The one that originally started our business dealings several years ago? Or did you just capitalize on its base structure for your own purposes, since you were doing so much research into it anyway?" Kaname needed to know. He _really _needed to know if Diachi had killed Yuki, or merely made the most of what her death had brought him. It was almost hard to breathe.

"Pretty stories, Kaname, but that's all they are," Diachi seemed almost amused rather than defensive. That was not a good sign. He was far too confident.

"I give you credit for being both thorough and convincing, but no one will believe your version of events. Do you have any evidence to back up your accusations? I do." The older pureblood's voice had calmed once more and now sounded somewhat smug. "You can deny it all you want but I can _prove_ what you did to me and it is going to cost you dearly. I have your precious protégé's blood mingled with Naija's all over my destroyed lab. She spilled a lot of it before he managed to kill her, what happened, was she stronger than he expected? Or was he just tired after killing three other vampires in so short a time?" the disgust in his voice was clear, but it was obviously a rhetorical question because he was still speaking.

"Too many mistakes to cover, Kaname. I even found a hidden bullet casing that I'm betting I could get the Hunter's Association to match back to your pet's weapon of choice if I needed to. But I don't need to, do I? Better cut your losses while you can. Your hunter screwed up Kaname, and he is going to take you down with him. You may or may not have already healed him to hide the damage she did, but I bet he can't account for his whereabouts last night, can he? Say, maybe around midnight and the hours before and after?" The pureblood's tone was mocking. He held all the high cards and he knew it.

Zero felt like all the blood had drained from his body. Time seemed to slow as Diachi's words caused realization to dawn like creeping dread. It only took a few heartbeats for the picture to become clear, but the seriousness of it made him feel as if everything had temporarily frozen.

_He had been set up. _

A look of shocked, horrified comprehension passed between he and Kaname. If this was Diachi's doing, then the elder pureblood had done one damn good job.

Zero ran his hand through his hair, feeling like the ground was opening under him. Of _course_ he couldn't account for where he was last night when the killings took place. He'd been unconscious, chained to a tree in the middle of nowhere... but there was no way to prove that. He'd left home before sunset and no one save his attackers had seen him for the rest of the night. It had been dawn by the time Kaname and Yagari found him and in point of fact, they had never even seen where he had been bound. He'd stumbled out of the woods looking like he'd just been in one hell of a fight, with plenty of time to have made a round trip to Diachi's territory and back. The pureblood and hunter only had Zero's word for everything that had happened that night. He knew _they _believed him, but if faced with the facts, would anyone else?

They could say he was lying, and how could his lover or his teacher deny those accusations with any authority other than knowing his character? He was already free before he was found, the tampered handcuffs had seen to that_... the cuffs_... which maybe _hadn't_ been sabotaged for the reasons he'd thought at all, but had instead been damaged to allow him to escape after a while and further place his alibi in doubt. The only way it could have been worse was if Kaname and Yagari had never come looking for him at all. If he'd cleaned up and returned home on his own, as his attackers had doubtless intended, his story would hold even less credibility.

He could try to tell himself that that kind of evidence was all very circumstantial, but if Diachi was to be believed then his terrible lack of alibi was the least of their worries. The other pureblood had a bullet casing that would no doubt match the weapon that had been taken from him last night, and conveniently returned just now. Zero looked down at the gun in his hands. It was almost impossible to comprehend how neatly all the seams in the scenario had been sewn up. They even had his blood at the scene, which was about as damning as you could get. _How the hell had they gotten __**that**__? _

"I don't care what you _think _you can prove," Kaname's voice was low, deadly. "Zero did not do this!"

Zero's hand crept down to his arm, unconsciously touching the inside of his elbow through his coat. He felt sick as the final piece clicked into place. That needle he had felt... it hadn't been injecting anything, it had been _removing_ it. That was the only way this made sense. His attackers must have drawn his blood and taken it away with them to plant at the scene of the kills in order to implicate him. They must have taken quite a bit, judging by what Diachi had said. That was probably why he'd been out so long, why he'd been so hungry afterwards and why Aido had said he was anemic. _Dear god... _it all made sense now and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. Even in a human court of law with this much against him he would have been screwed, and Level D vampires did not begin to warrant those kinds of rights. A reasonable accusation by a pureblood was quite enough to damn him in everyone's eyes.

"So you say," Diachi's voice was silky. "But you can't prove it, can you?"

Kaname only just managed not to crush the phone he was holding. _No. He couldn't._ His opponent had seen to that with devastating effectiveness. He saw the helpless realization spread across Zero's face even as he felt the acidity of that same knowledge curdling inside him. He might as well have been punched in the gut. He had never expected Diachi to be this diabolically clever, and he obviously should have. He should have seen this coming, should have protected Zero... but he'd been too hideously blind and distracted by his own stupid problems with Nasser to even realize the danger coming at him from this corner. The enormity of his blind failure was staggering. It was like he was a child all over again and had never even seen the hammer until it fell. Nasser had been right about him; he was still hideously unequipped were it mattered the most.

"Zero was with me, all night," Kaname lied for the hunter without missing a beat, even though he knew the terrible position into which he was now placing himself.

Zero shot him a startled, worried look. He appreciated his lover's ready defense, but that claim would not hold up under scrutiny. Most people would be hesitant to out-and-out accuse Kaname of lying, but if it became painfully clear that he _had, _then that would only make the pureblood's own position much more dangerous. Everyone would naturally assume that Kaname had ordered the executions, just as Diachi said he had, and that he was now lying to cover his own ass, not Zero's. After all, why would a pureblood risk his reputation to protect a 'D?

"Really? Are you quite sure...?" Diachi sounded a little too pleased; as if he were well aware he was forcing Kaname in a lie. "It will be interesting to see how long you can try to hold to that without any evidence. You'll forgive me if I... _hesitate_, to take your word for it."

Kaname gave his head a single shake in response to Zero's concerned expression. He didn't need the hunter to tell him he was walking a dangerous line, he already knew that. Zero _hadn't _been with him and there were plenty of people who knew that. At least he could feel sure that Yagari would never breathe a word about what had happened, to protect Zero even if not to protect him. Kaname had been at his office most of the day and he could control what his staff said to a certain extent, but it had been a very busy day and he'd met with a number of people whom he did not control, people who could be called upon to say that his hunter bodyguard had been nowhere in evidence.

Worst of all, Nasser Ardon had _seen _him go into work that morning with Seiren, not Zero. He had even remarked on Zero's absence. He would surely be only too happy to use that fact for all it was worth once wind of this got out - assuming, of course, that he wasn't already perfectly aware of everything that was happening and deeply involved in this whole mess. That was a large assumption and one Kaname wasn't about to make. The brilliance of this trap reeked of the clever elder pureblood's involvement.

Kaname tried to figure out what to say, to build some kind of strategy. Zero could see him playing the familiar mental chess game in his head, rapidly trying a thousand different moves and scenarios in an effort to find one that did not lead them even deeper into check. The hunter realized uncomfortably that the uneasy flicker in his lover's eyes meant he was not finding the kind of solutions he sought.

There were far too many variables in play. Whether or not Nasser was involved already, he _would _be soon; Kaname knew it with sinking certainty. This was going to end up two against one with Kaname drawing the short end of the equation. Three purebloods butting heads in the court of public opinion was going to get extremely ugly.

It would be difficult for anyone to prove definitively that Zero _hadn't_ been with him at some point during the night, but it would be even harder for Kaname to prove that he _had_ been. Diachi's evidence was still more damning and in any case this wasn't exactly a court of law. The burden of proof did not rest with the accuser and there was no unbiased presentation of facts. Innocent until proven guilty was not how this worked. That was why no matter how much he knew he could not support the claim; Kaname hadto insist that Zero had been with him. At this point, no other assertion would be suitably concrete enough to even temporarily hold at bay the huge shit storm that was about to descend upon the hunter. Kaname knew how important it was to not let the young ex-human be assumed immediately guilty and summarily sentenced in absentia by both the Council and the Association. Once those kinds of decisions were made, it was harder to get them undone then to prevent them from happening in the first place. Unfortunately, the corner into which he was being forced severely limited his following moves, further illuminating the brilliant strategy behind this play. _Damn it. _

"If you want to call me a liar, Diachi, I suggest you come and do it to my face," Kaname said with a calm he did not feel.

"Oh I will, trust me," the other pureblood promised. "But are you really sure this is a road you want to travel?" Diachi's voice had also calmed. It held a deceptively almost reasonable tone and Kaname felt his wariness mounting. Obviously, the other pureblood wasn't done yet.

"You have done me great injustice, Kaname, but we were friends before. I _might _understand if your decision was one of panic rather than purely calculated betrayal. Convince me that you really thought my people represented a threat to the rest of the vampire community because of their affliction and _maybe _I'll try to listen."

Kaname's jaw set. Diachi wanted him to freaking _beg _for forgiveness for something the other pureblood had orchestrated himself? _He could go to hell!_ "And?" he forced himself to say tersely. Diachi may enjoy watching him squirm, but he doubted that would be the end of his demands. "What _else _would be required to gain your _understanding_?"

"I would ask only that you give me the murder to deal with as I see fit. You can't expect me to leave these crimes unpunished. Give me Kiriyu as a good faith gesture, and then we can talk."

The ice twisting in Kaname's gut was sharp, indignant and horrified. "Out of the question," he said simply, not even needing to consider such a suggestion. It was not actually an unreasonable proposition given the situation. Diachi perhaps had a right to act like he was doing Kaname a favor by offering him the chance to sacrifice his protégé to save face, but it was obviously a solution the pureblood would never accept. _Give him Zero? Over my dead body! _

Zero looked slightly sickened. He could see the sense in the offer, although he knew Kaname would never take it. He hated that he had somehow become a pawn in this game without his consent or control.

Kaname caught and held his gaze intently. _Don't even listen to him. I will protect you, no matter what I have to do. I will not let them touch you, I promise. _He didn't need to say the words; they were clear in his eyes.

Zero knew that. He had not for a moment been afraid that Kaname would sell him out. Kaname had kept him from being executed over Shizuka years ago and he knew the pureblood could and would do the same thing again without hesitation, but it frustrated him beyond belief to be in a position where he needed that kind of intervention and he feared it would cost Kaname a lot more dearly this time. Everyone had _wanted _to sweep Shizuka under the rug; she had been a dangerous embarrassment to a lot of powerful people. Put simply, no one cared that much what happened to her. This was going to be very different. Zero felt helpless to have any effect on the events now in motion and the sensation burned noxiously in his stomach.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Diachi actually did sound somewhat resigned, but there was still steel in his tone. "Then I'm afraid you leave me little choice. I think the rest of the world would be very interested in learning about how you deal with threats to your so-called "peace" and to what extent you are willing to use your connections with the hunters. The Council of Elders will be thrilled; I know they're such _big _fans of yours. Your neck is out a lot further than mine, Kuran. Maybe you should have thought of that before you came into my house and slaughtered my subordinates. I've been more than reasonable with you. Consider your options carefully and decide if you really want me as your enemy, but decide quickly. I'm not going to wait long." With that quiet warning, Diachi hung up and the line went dead.

Kaname flipped the phone shut, gripping it tightly and only barely restraining the urge to hurl it across the room. Instead, the concrete floor in front of him fractured, rippling destruction racing away from him in a wave towards the opposite wall, destroying everything in its path and punching through the wall itself into the next room.

Zero ducked as soggy plaster from the ceiling and chunks of melting ice rained down in the wake of the tremor, although none of it fell near them.

Kaname curled his fists at his side, hating the loss of control, but feeling incredibly trapped. "Shit," he swore softly through his teeth. That was completely uncharacteristic for him and it told Zero just how bad this situation really was. _"Shit..."_ Kaname murmured again, struggling to breathe. If Diachi took his accusations to the Council and the rest of the vampire world, opinion would turn against the young pureblood very quickly.

The allegation that he was some kind of mastermind behind a global plot, killing people in other Syndeos who threatened his cause and using hunters to do it would be all too easy for people to believe. Already rumors were well entrenched about him making a bid for the Hunters Association because of Zero. Add to that all the evidence Diachi had against Zero and the situation became a nightmare. Kaname would clearly appear to be a serious threat to other vampires and a destabilizing force upon the current peace and state of world affairs. Peace which was already about to be violently rocked by the revelation of the virus which he and Diachi to this point had been keeping quiet.

The vampire population in general was not going to react at all well when they found out that there was a disease out there that could actually breach their impressive immune systems. Even if it only negatively affected blood substitute users, still, the very idea would cause a panic. Then, of course, there was the problem of how the hunters would react to finding out about a virus that could make lower class vampires even more dangerous and deadly to humans than purebloods. There was going to be chaos. People were going to need someone to blame, whether or not it made sense. The fact that his name was suddenly topping that list was not something to take lightly.

Ironically, the Council themselves would probably want to see every last infected vampire destroyed for the safety of the race and the sake of avoiding war... but not before they'd used the current situation to crucify Kaname.

Kaname knew how this would go down. He knew it with a leaden certainty. With the vampire community thrown into a panic, it would be far too easy for his enemies to use him as a scapegoat. The Council would label him rouge in a moment and demand his imprisonment. Takuma would oppose them, but he'd only lose his own standing as a result. With this kind of evidence, they would have pretty much every other living pureblood on their side. They'd have the Hunter's Association on their side too. The hunters would denounce Kuran quickly. In the face of these accusations of collusion, they would have to; they couldn't afford their impartiality to be taken into question. He and Zero would both likely end up with a price on their heads, whether or not anyone would be stupid enough to try to collect. That wasn't what worried him most, however. The Council wanted Kaname alive and imprisoned to use as their puppet and the hunters would go along with that to avoid war, but Zero... no one had a vested interest in keeping him alive. The young hunter would be painted the turncoat and the traitor to both sides and everyone would just want him dead.

Kaname breathed slowly, trying to still the spinning world and bring the chaos filling his head back into more orderly control. Sometimes it was a curse to be able to extrapolate so many moves into the future. He was letting it paralyze him and that was dangerous. What was important now was to focus on not allowing the events he could see yawning so clearly in front of them to come to pass. He just didn't know _how_. He was trying to figure out counter moves, trying to run damage control scenarios in his head, but there was precious little he could do to contain the situation at this point. The only option being offered him was to surrender Zero and pander to Diachi's games, but of course that wasn't a _real _option.

The pureblood felt sick. He was now quite sure that however exactly the pieces matched up, Nasser's hand must have been involved in this mess. Diachi was clever, but he wasn't this devastatingly brilliant and there was far too much hideous symmetry with the past for it to be an accident. Nasser had once sacrificed his left-tenant and lover in order to win, now Kaname was being presented with the same choice in order to stay in the game. It would be just like Nasser to try to back him into surrendering pieces he did not want to lose. What none of them could know was that they were not attacking Kaname's knight, but rather, the equivalent of his queen. He would fight to the death to prevent _that_ play.

"Kaname?" Zero was worried by the blank, distant, yet somehow terrible look on his lover's features as Kaname stared wordlessly across the room, fists curled at his sides. The pureblood didn't seem to hear him.

_Death... _it might come to that, now. In fact, it almost certainly would. Not necessarily _his_ death, but those of a lot of other people. If the Council or the Hunters moved against him or Zero, he would have to kill them, and chaos would follow. In other circumstances he might have been able to pick up the pieces all right after something like that, but not under the cloud of suspicion and ill will that Diachi's accusations would bring down on him. Not with this new revelation of the vampire virus exploding across the world, creating chaos and stretching the tattered seams of hunter and vampire relations taut. Not when Nasser and the Satos were all so dead set against him.

_Maybe_ he could deal with Diachi, which in turn meant he would have to deal with both his mother and brother as well. If he went down that road, he would eventually have to eliminate the entire Sato family and many of their supporters. Each pureblood he killed would dig his own grave a little deeper until there was no hole on earth big enough to hide him and Zero. And Nasser...? Kaname wasn't even sure he _could _fight Nasser if he had to. This was an almost total disaster. Everything was unraveling and he couldn't catch hold of the ends fast enough to stop it. Apparently, Kaname was no more prepared for this match now then he had been as a child, and that terrified him. The strong sense of déjà-vu burned like bile in the back of his throat and tore at the still much too fresh scars in his mind.

Zero felt rage burning in his chest, mixing with his worried nausea. He couldn't see all the dark outcomes of this scenario as clearly as Kaname could, but he knew that they were in trouble. His lover's response was giving him a lot of extra reason for concern. If _Kaname_ couldn't think his way out of a situation, then it meant they were pretty well screwed. Apparently, Seiji wasn't the only bastard in the Sato family. However, what had Zero even more worried at the moment was what he saw in Kaname's eyes. Echoes of the darkness from the other night had returned and it frightened him.

"Kaname!" Zero tried again. He slid the Bloody Rose into his large coat pocket and moved closer; gripping his lover's shoulders, trying to get the pureblood to look at him.

Kaname blinked, his eyes refocusing on Zero as if snapping out of a deep and very unpleasant trance. He took a slow breath and his face went carefully blank once more. "I'm sorry," he murmured, his jaw tensing slightly in self-loathing. He was doing exactly what his opponents probably wanted, letting the past cloud the present.

Kaname pulled away from Zero and ran his hand through his hair, visibly collecting himself. Now was the time for clear heads and quick thinking. They had a very short, precious amount of time to work with while Diachi waited to see if Kaname would come around and dance to his tune or not. They needed to make the most of it.

"We need proof of what Diachi's doing, what he's trying to hide, and we need it swiftly," he said, a forced, level calm back in his voice. "We must search this place from top to bottom; we have to be certain about what happened to Aido, and who is responsible. It must be the same person or persons who attacked you in the woods, which means there _are _hunters involved and we need to know why and how they connect to Diachi."

Their only hope was to find proof to counter the false accusations. Aido was a key, somehow. Kaname could not shake the feeling that something about the way he had been attacked suggested there was more to it than simply eliminating all the An'swalan scientists so that Diachi could point the finger of blame at Kaname. Of course, at the moment he wasn't sure he could trust his feelings or his instincts. He was no longer sure he could trust anything anymore, very least of all himself.

He'd thought Diachi was an ally, he really had. He'd been wary, but he'd never expected this level of treachery or direct attack. Even on the phone, it had been hard for Kaname to disbelieve the anger and betrayal that the other pureblood was affecting. He'd misjudged Diachi, he'd misjudged just about everything. Doubting his abilities was dangerously debilitating for Kaname, but he knew he couldn't afford to freeze and try to figure things out. They had to move forward; had to act and act quickly... he just hoped he wasn't running them down another dead end alley at 100mph... because he wasn't sure they would survive the crash if he was wrong yet again.

Zero nodded in agreement. "Okay, let's search. If there are answers, they start here." He reached out and touched Kaname's arm lightly. "And cut yourself some slack, no one could have seen this coming," he added quietly. "We'll figure things out and we'll stop him," he promised.

Kaname smiled faintly. Zero didn't know. He couldn't see what Kaname had already foreseen. He didn't understand that Kaname _should _have known. But he loved Zero for his innocence and for having the confidence that he couldn't manage to feel anymore. "Of course," he agreed, years of practice making it easy for him to offer the pretence of calm and control no matter what lay beneath.

Zero wasn't fooled though and he gave his lover's arm a light squeeze. "Hey... I mean it, okay? We _will _make this right, somehow."

Kaname smiled ruefully but with affection. Zero was the one who was being accused of murder and yet he was the one trying to be optimistic, if only because he could see how much Kaname needed him to be. The hunter was very strong. Despite everything Kaname knew to the contrary, he could actually almost believe it when Zero spoke to him like that. It was the kind of effect he had on others all the time, but only Zero could have it on him. "Thanks," he said quietly. "Come, we must hurry."

They split up in order to search the building more swiftly. Aido's lab was a large honey comb of specialized work rooms and storage areas. This was the main lab, and obviously where the recent confrontation had taken place, but they needed to clear the building to be sure there was no one still hiding in here. There was also the slight chance that there might be other information or indications that could help them shed further illumination on Aido's fate. They may be refusing to accept reality, but neither of them wanted to completely accept the obvious just yet.

Zero took the passage near the ashes and Kaname backtracked and took the one through which they had entered, both of them carefully and methodically checking every room and turn-off along those corridors.

Because of this, Kaname was alone when his phone rang again. The name and number on the display made his stomach knot. He stood still in the middle of the storage room he had just entered and stared at the phone, hating how unsure he felt about picking up the call. Hating the fact that the coward in him wanted to just let it go to voicemail. But that would not be prudent. There was too much at stake now.

He flipped the phone open and pressed it to his hear. "Hello, Nasser."

On the other side of the building, Zero cautiously pulled open yet another door and found himself looking into a dark room that had specimen jars and samples lined up on shelves in orderly rows and banks of large, industrial looking steel cabinets set into the wall. The first thing Zero noticed, was that unlike the orderly precision in all the other rooms he'd been through, there were several broken specimen jars lying on the floor at the base of the nearest shelf. The second thing he noticed, was the smell. The room must be scent-proofed because of its contents, but the charm had been hiding more than just formaldehyde and preservatives.

Zero froze for a moment, then rushed quickly forward. _Oh my God..._


	28. Unexpected Revelations

_A/N: As the chapter title suggests, even though time-wise we don't move along too far, we do get at least one more twist in this chapter... :) _

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: "Unexpected Revelations"**

The room smelled like blood and held the faint, unmistakable odor of charred flesh. Zero was already resigned to the fact that these registered to him as _good _smells, but they were definitely out of place in the sterile storage area. He recognized the familiar scent of the blood immediately and his hunter senses buzzed ever so faintly as he hurried forward, eyes urgently scanning the dim room.

There was a work sink and several desks pressed up against the vaulted storage units along the right side of the room. Just beneath and partially behind one of the industrial grade steel desks, Zero could just see the curled outline of a dark shape. If the figure had succeeded in getting all the way between the desk and the wall, it would have been much harder to find him, but apparently that was as far as the person on the floor had been able to drag himself.

Zero crouched down beside the desk, ducking his head to peer underneath even though he already knew what he was going to find. He'd seen a glimpse of blond hair as he approached and he recognized the familiar shape of the crumpled body.

Aido was curled on his side in a fetal position in the space beneath the metal frame. His arms were wrapped around his middle and he lay in a disturbingly large puddle of blood which seeped out from under the cabinet and made the cement beneath Zero's shoes both sticky and slick at the same time. A blood trail on the floor leading away from him indicated that he must have dragged himself under here to hide, but been unable to fully complete the process before his body gave out. The young vampire's face was badly bruised and streaked with blood and his golden hair was matted with crimson. He registered only very weakly in Zero's hunter senses. Aido was very near death.

But he was alive.

Zero quickly twisted under the cabinet as far as he was able, grabbing the bloodied raincoat Aido was wearing and tugging him out from under the storage unit as carefully as possible. "Hanabusa? Hanabusa!"

Aido stirred faintly, his eyelids fluttering as if the mere motion was almost impossibly difficult. He was only around a year Zero's junior, but with pain and vulnerability stripping him of his usual swagger he looked a lot younger. When the foggy blue eyes finally opened, they registered fear. The rate of the blonde's stuttering breathing increased and he made one weak, pathetically desperate attempt to pull away. Zero could tell Aido wasn't seeing _him_ and was simply reacting to having been found.

"Hanabusa, it's me, it's Zero. It's okay. It's okay now," Zero soothed quickly, gently pinning Aido to the floor to keep his faint struggles from doing his damaged body any further harm while trying to get the injured vampire to understand him. "I'm here with Kaname; we're going to get you help. You're safe..." he promised as Aido's terrified, bloodshot gaze managed to lock blearily onto his face and the young hunter finally saw a flicker of recognition on his friend's features.

One bloodied hand reached out and curled desperately in Zero's shirt. Aido's eyes darted around the room as if fearful that they were not alone. His frightened, unfocused eyes begged his friend for protection.

"It's all right," Zero repeated gently, stroking Aido's hair in a comforting manner and trying to get a look at his wounds. "You're safe. I won't let anybody hurt you, I promise. Just lie still and let me check your injuries, okay?" His throat felt thick and tight and his eyes burned as a fierce, protective feeling squeezed his chest. Aido could be a know-it-all pain in the ass sometimes, but he was a good person and a good friend. It hurt to see him like this.

Aido mouthed Zero's name silently as reality finally seemed to register. The young noble's body relaxed and slumped back onto the concrete in a mixture of relief and the simple fact that he had no more energy left. Surviving this long had taken all he had. His body was failing and he wasn't going to last much longer without intervention. His skin, where it was visible around all the blood and bruising, was taking on a dangerous, chalky color and texture that Zero knew all too well usually indicated that a vampire was not much longer for this world.

Aware of the perilously low ebb at which his friend was riding, Zero quickly pushed aside Aido's raincoat and ripped open his already ruined shirt. His expression remained carefully neutral, but inwardly he cringed when he saw the raw, blackened holes punched through Aido's gut and shoulder. There was no mistaking that the Bloody Rose was responsible.

Aido had been shot three times - twice in the stomach and once in the shoulder. A lesser vampire would have been killed even though his heart and head had not been hit directly, but Aido was stubborn in many ways, apparently. It had most likely also helped that his attacker had not been as in tune with the Bloody Rose as Zero was. In some cases, especially when older and more powerful armaments were involved, hunters and their weapons often grew to form a kind of symbiosis which made them more effective together. The weapon drew power from its wielder, and sometimes vice-versa. The knowledge that _he _probably _could _have killed Aido with those same three shots was not a terribly comforting thought, but fortunately it was not something Zero really had time to consider much at the moment.

Aido must have taken quite a beating after he lost his vampire healing, because his face and body were badly bruised. To someone with Zero's level of experience, that was a tell-tale give-away that the noble had not received all three gunshot wounds at the same time. That would have laid him out too fast for him to have received this much collateral damage. This pattern of injury said that Aido must have kept fighting even after he'd been shot and his healing factor had been knocked out. Then he'd been shot again, and again. Zero couldn't imagine how Aido had escaped being killed given his condition and his respect for the blonde went up a little. Now they just had to make sure he didn't die from his wounds anyway.

"Kaname!" Zero shouted for his lover as he quickly tore strips from Aido's already ruined shirt and pressed them against his wounds in an effort to staunch the thankfully already sluggish blood flow. Heedless of his own safety and of the tainted blood covering his hands, Zero applied pressure to the wounds as best he could. Aido grimaced in pain and Zero could feel the body beneath his hands beginning to shake. Aido was in shock. He had far too much hunter poison in his system and he had lost a _lot _of blood. Zero had seen many vampires less severely injured than this perish. It was a little odd to be in a position now where he was desperately trying to avoid that outcome instead of bringing it about.

As Zero pushed Aido's shirt open further, he noticed the widespread hemorrhaging that spread in splotchy, bruising patches beneath the noble's pale skin. The hunter tensed in apprehension. The Bloody Rose didn't cause this kind of injury, neither would someone's fists. Mix these symptoms with the bloodshot state of Aido's eyes and one could only guess that in addition to being shot, the young vampire must have been subjected to some kind of hunter charm. It was the only way to explain that pattern of damage. _Crap… couldn't Aido catch a break anywhere? _

Zero quickly murmured a few ancient words under his breath, his hand skimming down the front of Aido's chest as he attempted to make sure that the noble was not still under any lingering effects from whatever had been used on him. Zero had learned long ago after a rather unfortunate accident with Kaname that some charms needed to be unset once cast. Fortunately for Aido, that at least didn't appear to be one of his many problems and Zero supposed they should be thankful for small mercies, no matter how slight.

"Kaname!" Zero tried calling again, worried and frustrated when seconds crawled by and his lover did not respond. Surely Kaname could hear him, couldn't he? _Unless of course, this room was sound proofed as well as scent proofed._ He hadn't thought of that. Reaching out, Zero gave a sharp, urgent tug on their bond. It disturbed him a little that he had apparently become so used to touching Kaname in this unusual way that it now seemed like a natural recourse when trying to get his attention.

Zero frowned at the light, lingering backwash he got from Kaname's mind when he touched him. The pureblood was very agitated and he snapped his mind closed the instant Zero's consciousness brushed his. _Well, great... now what? _Something was going on with Kaname. It made a sudden, sick feeling of worry spring to life in Zero's gut, but he had to focus on Aido right now or he was going to lose him. _Double crap... _

"Zer...o..." Aido's voice was barely a murmur. His blue eyes had morphed to an agony of red and his unsheathed fangs lent a familiar lisp to the ragged word.

Experience told Zero to be on guard when you saw that look on the face of a vampire, but Aido was much too weak to be a threat to him and instead the young hunter tensed in alarm for an entirely different reason as he felt the blonde's pulse begin fluttering erratically beneath his fingers. Aido's spark of life felt like a guttering candle fighting with a strong wind.

_No way. Not today. No. _

Zero disentangled himself just long enough to quickly rise and retrieve a bottle of disinfectant from among the chemicals on a nearby shelf. Quickly, he splashed it across his wrist, washing Aido's blood from his left hand. Pushing up his sleeve, he pulled the knife from the inside pocket of his overcoat. He wasn't a fool; he knew he couldn't afford to get Aido's blood in an open wound without risking infection, but he also knew that Aido wasn't long for this world if he didn't get blood immediately. It was worth the danger, and worth the struggle to suppress his unease over the notion of what he was about to do. He would not let his friend die when it was within his power to try to save him.

Kneeling down beside Aido once more, Zero pulled the younger vampire's head and shoulders to him so that Aido's back was resting against his thighs with his head was in Zero's lap. Steeling himself, the ex-human quickly dug the sharp point of the hunter knife into his wrist and dragged the razor edge of the blade up the inside of his arm, partway to his elbow. He knew that if you _really_ wanted to bleed, you slit your wrist vertically, not horizontally. He'd done it once before, but he'd been trying to take his own life then... now he was trying to give life to someone else.

Grimacing against the pain of the deep cut and the burn of the hunter weapon he'd used to inflict it, Zero set the knife down beside him on the ground and made a fist, tipping his arm down as bright red blood oozed quickly to the surface and flowed down his forearm and wrist, dripping off his clenched fingers. The hunter blade ensured that Zero's wound stayed open and he squeezed his arm a couple times, encouraging it to bleed faster.

Aido moaned desperately, his lips automatically parting in need as he looked up at Zero with shocked, uncomprehending eyes. Zero swiftly shifted his bleeding wrist, letting the blood run down the side of his hand and into Aido's open mouth. "Don't say a word, just shut up and drink," Zero muttered, although Aido obviously wasn't really able to form coherent speech right now anyway. The urgent, gentle concern in the young hunter's eyes and voice completely belied the rough sound of the words.

Aido gulped the offered blood desperately, his throat working convulsively as if trying to absorb the life-giving substance faster. If he had been more lucid, he might have at least thought of trying to refuse either out of pride or because he knew Zero's blood belonged to Kaname, but he was far past having any kind of choice in the matter. This might be the last blood he'd _ever _expected to drink, but at the moment it was saving his life. Even despite his current state, somewhere deep down, Aido realized that this was not something Zero would do lightly, or for just anybody.

Zero kept his right arm wrapped carefully but tightly around Aido's shoulders while he fed him with his left. He tried to be careful of Aido's shoulder wounds as he held the other vampire cradled against him both in a gesture of support and self-protection, but he needed to keep Aido's arms and shoulders pinned so the blonde couldn't instinctually lunge up and try to bite the bleeding wrist hovering so temptingly close above him. He knew Aido wouldn't intentionally do that to him given the consequences, but he also knew from much personal experience that when you were out of your mind with need, everything else took a back seat, including rational thinking and consideration.

His caution was justified as Aido pulled feverishly against him, swallowing desperately as the blood trickled into his mouth and obviously wanting more. Zero restrained him as gently as he could, rocking and murmuring reassuring nothings to the younger vampire as he fed him. It was probably a good thing for him that Aido was so weak at the moment, it made this a little easier.

Somewhere in the back of his mind was the deeply ingrained, uneasy feeling that he was doing something dirty and disgusting. He was intentionally giving his blood to a vampire which was completely taboo for a hunter. He'd been doing it for many years now with Kaname of course, but that was different somehow - Kaname was his lover and their circumstances were rather unique.

As Zero looked down into Aido's agonizingly grateful eyes, however... he knew that no matter how wrong he had been trained to feel about this, and no matter how much others of his kind would condemn him if they knew – this was the right thing to do. It was the only thing his heart would let him do, anyway.

"It's okay, Hanabusa," he murmured in Aido's ear as he rocked him. "You're going to be okay…"

* * *

"Hello, Kaname," Nasser's voice on the other end of the phone line was smooth and held a faintly amused quality that instantly set Kaname on edge. "I trust you're having a good night? Did your little hunter ever come back from... wherever he was?"

Kaname's eyes narrowed. If he'd needed any verification that Nasser was a part of what was happening, this confirmed it quite clearly. "I _was_ having a good night until you called," he replied calmly, intentionally avoiding responding to the question about Zero. The fewer statements he gave on that subject, the better. "Do you want something besides wasting my time?"

"My, my, we certainly are hostile tonight, Kaname. If I didn't know better, I'd think something was _wrong_," Nasser tutted with an obvious smirk in his voice.

"Nothing I can't handle," Kaname replied in a bored tone, affecting a complete lack of concern. Obviously, Nasser was quite aware of the bad spot he was in, but Kaname wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of acting anything but indifferent.

"I'm glad to hear it," Nasser said lightly. "Although if you _were _ever in any kind of difficulty, I do hope you know that you can rely on me... for old time's sake." The elder pureblood's tone was warm and seductive now and Kaname pressed his eyes shut, disgusted that even just the sound of it could make his stomach tense.

Somewhere in the distance, Kaname heard Zero calling his name. He shifted, his attention diverted. He needed to go to the hunter and see what the matter was, but he did not want to take this conversation with him.

"I can rely on you to stick a knife in my back," Kaname said bluntly, although his tone was still carefully devoid of emotion. It was time to end this conversation, he needed to go. "Everything has a price with you. So thanks, but no thanks."

"Kaname, _really..._" Nasser took on a hurt tone. "Is that any way for old lovers to talk? I'm not the one who ended things and spent the last few years denying my feelings and trying to pretend it never happened. Business is business, and certainly, if I was to help you I would expect certain... concessions. But my previous offer still stands. Any time, Kaname – say the word and I will lay the world at your feet. Do not underestimate what a powerful ally I can be."

Kaname fought to breathe around the crushing pressure of rage in his chest. "We were _never_'lovers',Nasser and the only feeling I have for you is an overwhelming urge to crush your heart in my fist," the young pureblood seethed, restrained, but unable to maintain his implacable mask this time. "You have _nothing _which I want or need."

Kaname felt Zero brush against his mind and quickly snapped his mental doors shut. He wasn't actually trying to hide anything, it was mostly just a knee-jerk reaction born of how on edge he was. He knew instantly it had been the wrong thing to do since it was going to make Zero worried and the brief footprint that Zero left behind said that the hunter was already deeply worried about something. He hadn't sensed danger, but he did sense urgency. He needed to know what was happening, and Nasser was wasting precious time with his games.

"As you wish," Nasser seemed pleased at getting a reaction from Kaname and not overly concerned by his words. "I simply wanted you to know that the offer still stood. Perhaps... we will speak again soon."

"I wouldn't count on it," Kaname said simply and hung up. Nasser's confidence was unnerving, but then, he had every reason to feel confident, the bastard. His help was currently the only definite and concrete way out of the web Kaname found himself tangled in at the moment, but Kaname knew that would be trading the frying pan for the fire. He was well aware of the cost involved and could not be so easily manipulated. It was a path Kaname most certainly did _not_ want to take and one he wouldn't even consider except as a very, _very _last resort. He knew Nasser's price, and it was much too high.

_Too high even, for Zero's life? _Kaname forced the terrible thought away from him. It was way too early to even think of such things. There were far too many other paths to explore yet to even give that one any thought. Yet even as he pushed the notion away, he knew in his heart that the answer was no. When it came to Zero's safety, there _was_ no price too high.

As Kaname headed swiftly out into the hall, he was suddenly hit by the faint, distinct smell of Zero's blood and his heart lurched. Instants later, he had followed the scent to its source and found himself standing in the entry to the small specimen storage room. Zero had left the door open and apparently the charms containing the chamber were only intended to work when the door was shut.

Kaname was surprised and relieved to find Aido still literally in one piece, but he tensed in fear when he saw what Zero was doing. _There was so much blood everywhere... and Zero was bleeding..._

Quickly, Kaname entered the room and crouched down beside them, his eyes flickering rapidly from Aido to Zero. He squashed an instinctively jealous reaction to the sight of Zero giving his blood to someone else, knowing that this was hardly the time or the place for such feelings.

"He's in bad shape," Zero said softly, trying to speak low so Aido wouldn't hear, although that was almost impossible given their proximity. Fortunately, Aido seemed to be too out of it for much to register.

"But he's alive," Kaname returned, touching Aido's matted curls lightly with one hand, obviously relieved by this turn of events. Aido had become restless, his body convulsing with need which caused it to tremble in pain. Kaname's brow furrowed in dual concern. "Zero..."

"It's fine, Kaname, I was careful," Zero cut him off, easily recognizing the worry burning brightly behind the dark eyes as they stared at his bleeding wrist. "He wasn't going to make it otherwise." Zero shifted a little, having to struggle harder to hold onto Aido as the blonde's thrashing grew more intense. His increased resistance was probably a good indication, it meant that that the blood was helping. But the fact that he hadn't even acknowledged Kaname's arrival was a bad sign. Aido either wasn't lucid, or wasn't in his right mind at the moment, which made him unfortunately dangerous to the person trying to save his life if they weren't careful. Aido's neck strained upward and his fangs flashed as Zero struggled to hold him pinned without further stressing his wounds more than could be helped.

Kaname was not happy about what Zero had done, but he knew there hadn't been a choice. However, he quickly recognized Aido's current mental state and the danger it posed. The boy was in too much pain and too gravely injured. The blood Zero gave him was sustaining him, but it could not begin to quench his undoubtedly burning need. Instinct had taken over and young noble's eyes were red and feral. Reaching over a little further, Kaname pressed his hand to Aido's forehead. A moment later, the blonde's tense, writhing body went slack in Zero's arms.

Zero looked alarmed. "Hanabusa? Kaname!" He turned an accusing gaze upon his lover, letting Aido's limp body rest on his lap. "You shouldn't have done that, he's incredibly weak." He almost started to clutch his bleeding wrist with his other hand to halt the flow, until he remembered that he had Aido's blood all over that hand and quickly stopped himself, turning his arm up so that the blood was now dripping off his elbow instead as he looked around for something with which to clean his hand.

"I know," Kaname murmured, brushing Aido's damp curls back from his face with unusual gentleness before quickly tearing a strip from the inner lining of his rain coat and using it to wrap Zero's bleeding arm. He held his lover's forearm between his hands, carefully applying pressure to stop the blood flow and resisting the very strong urge to bring it to his mouth. "But you didn't see his eyes. He was not himself, Zero. You of all people know the danger of the desperate, false strength that blood lust can bring on. His need is too great and he's in agony. You've gotten him started, now it's better for him to rest a little until he's regenerated more." Kaname knew that unfortunately he couldn't let Aido rest too long. They desperately needed to know what had happened here. But Aido had been in no fit state to tell them anything just now.

The warmth of Kaname's hands holding his wound shut felt good on his aching arm, even if the pressure hurt a bit. Zero glanced down at where Kaname's long fingers curled almost possessively around the bloody bandage and then back up at the pureblood and he realized that there was something else that possibly might just be bothering Kaname about this situation, although it was strange to him in a way.

"Kaname... you're okay with this," Zero nodded at his arm and at Aido. "Right? I mean... he was dying, and it was my choice. Don't be upset with him, okay?" He couldn't imagine that Kaname would be, it wasn't as if Aido had even actually bitten him or anything like that.

Kaname smiled faintly as he looked down at Zero's arm. Zero didn't really frame the statement as a question. The hunter was so sure that Kaname wouldn't hold the act against him and only vaguely concerned for Aido. He had no idea how possessive purebloods were of their mate's blood. No idea how Kaname had a right to feel about it... but that was all right. Kaname understood the hunter's selfless motivation and he didn't want Aido to die either. So he supposed that did make him _'okay with it'. _

"Of course, Zero," he said simply with that same, small smile.

Zero gave him a little smile in return before focusing his attention back on the unconscious noble in his lap. He pressed his uninjured hand over Aido's heart, frowning slightly. Still much too weak. "He's been shot too many times, Kaname," he said quietly. "He's not going to regenerate on his own. Trust me, these injuries are too severe. He still needs help, maybe if we can get him back to Night Haven, I can..."

Kaname shook his head. "There isn't time. Not for him, and not for us." He could tell that Aido was even worse off than Zero indicated and there was no way the youth would survive having Kaname transport him the way he'd transported Zero and himself here.

"Even if he _could_ survive until I got a car here for us, of which I am doubtful, we can't afford to let him hibernate as long as he would need in order to mend," he added regretfully. "We need to know what he knows. If he does not wake on his own, I will need to wake him, but at the moment it will be easier to do what must be done while he's unconscious." Kaname further explained his reasoning behind putting Aido out a bit distractedly as he pushed up the sleeve of his overcoat. He unbuttoned the shirtsleeve beneath and rolled it up as well.

Zero regarded him with more than mild surprise as he realized what his lover intended to do. It was one thing for Zero to give the injured noble blood, it was quite another thing for Kaname to do the same and even Zero knew that. While the ex-human may have the right to have as much of it as he wanted at any time, the fact was that to everyone _else_ Kaname's blood was a closely guarded and forbidden substance.

The nails of the pureblood's other hand lengthened into talons and he pressed them neatly against the inside of his smooth, pale forearm. "Tip his head back and hold his mouth open, Zero," Kaname instructed as he raked the claws down his arm, slicing his flesh open and drawing blood, much as Zero had a few minutes ago.

Zero obeyed quickly, settling Aido's head between his knees and tipping the blonde head back so that his mouth fell open. Kaname leaned his wrist over Aido's mouth, letting the small trickle of crimson blood flow down into the open mouth. He placed his other hand over Aido's throat, invisibly guiding the younger vampire's body to swallow.

Zero inhaled deeply, glad that he had fed recently so the ache that fisted in his chest was only a longing and not the intense hunger it could become. He smirked slightly. "You know... it's too bad Aido isn't awake for this. I do believe this would be the high point of his entire life, half-dead or not." He was teasing, but what Kaname was doing for the young noble truly was a rather big deal for vampires. Very few were those lucky enough to be gifted with pure blood and Zero was sure that Aido never expected to be one of them. Maybe Kaname did need Aido rather a lot right now to answer questions about his attacker... but Zero suspected there was more behind this than that, whether or not Kaname would ever admit such.

Zero felt himself relax just a bit as Aido's flickering presence seemed to stabilize a little more in his senses.

Kaname smiled sardonically. "No doubt," he agreed. "But it's better this way. It's better he not know." The pureblood's face turned serious again. "You mustn't tell him, Zero. If he were to consciously taste my blood, he would crave it for the rest of his life," the brunette said quietly. They both knew how Aido was. He had been in puppy love with the pureblood for years. It would not be fair to make him suffer for the rest of his life from a yearning for something he could never have again. It could possibly ruin his ability to ever find happiness with anyone else. Kaname was trying to be kind to him.

"And since there's only one person I care to be feeding regularly..." the smile returned for a brief moment as Kaname caught Zero's gaze and shrugged. His wound had healed shut and he judged that it was enough. Rocking back on his heels, Kaname licked the blood from his arm in a brisk, distracted fashion. He'd only given Aido a little. It would stabilize him, but not heal him. The blonde was still in rough, desperate shape. Kaname couldn't afford to give enough to heal him, for Aido's sake. Giving any more than he had would risk addicting the young noble to him for life, whether Aido was conscious or not.

Zero knew Kaname was right. "Yeah, and you really don't need him mooning over you any more than he already does, huh?" he agreed in sarcastic amusement. "It's self preservation, admit it. And give me that..." Zero reached over and snatched Kaname's arm away from him, obviously disapproving of the careless way Kaname was tending himself. Holding Kaname's arm he licked the warm, bloodstained skin slowly. The flesh had healed, but it was still tender. He traced the sensitive inside of Kaname's forearm and the pale flesh inside his elbow slowly with his tongue, cleaning up every drop. Kaname tasted _so _good.

"All right, so it is," Kaname admitted in amusement, shifting closer to allow his lover to do as he pleased. Now was hardly the time to feel this way, but warm shivers traced along his nerves as Zero's tongue worked thoroughly against his skin.

"Kaname... what was going on a few minutes ago, when I called you? Did you find something else?" Zero asked, still holding Kaname's arm, his mouth warmly pressing against Kaname's wrist. He felt the pureblood's pulse suddenly jerk and hammer under his lips at the inquiry and shot a keen, discerning look up towards his lover.

Kaname felt himself heat slightly as he realized he couldn't fib now if he'd wanted to and that it was not an accident that Zero had asked the question while he was in such a good position to act as a lie detector. His lover was becoming much too clever.

Not seeing an actual reason to lie, other than the fact that he hated mentioning _that man's _name around Zero, Kaname told the truth. "No... Nasser called me."

Zero's lips froze against his arm, then slowly resumed their ministrations, the amethyst eyes looking up, fixed on him intently once again. "And? What did he want?"

Kaname couldn't think very well while Zero was touching him like this and he reluctantly pulled his arm away. Zero had already finished cleaning him and he let Kaname go after pressing one last kiss on his wrist.

"To gloat, mostly. He didn't come out and say it of course, but it's undoubted that he's in this current situation up to his eyeballs, either with Diachi or simply aggravating things behind the scenes," Kaname said succinctly as he rolled his sleeve back down. "He intimated that he might be willing to help me instead of Sato for certain... concessions," Kaname's tone was acidic, but there was something in his eyes that worried Zero.

The hunter's eyes narrowed. "_Concessions?_" he inquired with a sick feeling growing in his stomach.

Kaname's gaze diverted away as he concentrated on Aido, measuring the noble's pulse and the ragged rise and fall of his chest while studiously avoiding his lover's gaze. "Mission Oil, certainly, among... other things," he murmured, hating even _mentioning _it to Zero, but knowing that not mentioning it was worse. He didn't want Zero to think he was lying to him again.

"What kind of _other things_?" Zero's tone had sharpened unintentionally, he wasn't about to let this go.

"I'm certain you can guess," Kaname said a bit shortly. "Don't worry, all right? I'm not _completely _stupid. I'm not _about_ to dance with that devil unless..."

"No. There is no _unless,_" Zero cut him off a little more harshly than he intended. "Kaname, you listen to me," he warned. Aido stirred slightly, although a quick glance said he was still unconscious. Zero shifted, settling the injured aristocrat more securely on his lap before reaching over and grabbing Kaname's face between his hands. He looked him straight in the eyes. This wasn't where their focus needed to be right now and they didn't have time for this, but Zero feared that if he wasn't very clear _right now _it could be disastrous later.

"That man is the worst kind of rat bastard," the hatred in Zero's voice was intense. "I know what he wants from you but it's not going to happen. He doesn't get you at any price, do you hear me? I don't care how much it might seem like the only thing to do. It's _not _an option. You do that, Kaname, and I _won't_ forgive you." His voice was low and intensely serious.

Kaname flinched as if he'd been struck, his eyes echoing a hollow ache that cut Zero to the quick.

The hunter swallowed around the painful tenseness in his throat. He didn't like sounding so hard when he knew how raw an issue this was for Kaname, but everything was moving too quickly and there wasn't time for anything else. Aido could awaken at any moment and he could never have this conversation with Kaname in front of anyone else. Given the way the night had gone thus far, who knew what would happen next? He had a feeling they weren't going to get much breathing room in the near future and he couldn't risk having Kaname go off and make these decisions by himself if events pulled them apart before they could talk.

He knew that Kaname was someone who primarily kept his own council and waited on no one to ratify his choices. It was the quality of an authoritative leader, but it could be problematic in a relationship. He'd knew how trapped his lover currently felt and he was all too aware that if pressed to make a choice, Kaname would do whatever he felt he needed to do and he wasn't going to consult Zero about it first. He certainly hadn't to this point, or Zero would have tried to keep him from making that awful bet with Nasser to start with. He was also too aware that Kaname would quite literally do anything he thought would protect Zero... and there were certain lengths to which Zero couldn't bear the thought of him going. He could never forgive _himself _if Kaname thought he had to sell himself for his sake.

There was so much pain in Kaname's eyes that Zero almost couldn't breathe and his throat burned. _Damn, this was hard._ "Do you understand me?" he demanded softly, his voice hoarse but firm. "Say it. I need you to say you understand." Zero knew the one and only real power he had over Kaname's actions was the pureblood's love for him and his need for the hunter's approval. It hurt to use that against him like this, but Zero was too afraid of the possible alternative.

Kaname averted his eyes, burning with shame under his lover's intense gaze. He felt very much like a small child suspected of being naughty, or worse... like a faithless lover who could not be trusted. He did not like the feeling. His pride balked harshly, hammering indignantly against the inside of his chest and threatening to raise a hot flare of anger to cover his hurt and embarrassment. He restrained himself, however, swallowing his natural impulse to strike back or pull away. He couldn't blame Zero; he'd certainly given his lover very little reason to trust him, or his fidelity lately. "I understand," he whispered quietly.

"You're not going to agree to anything with him without talking to me first?" Zero pressed, urgent to come to exact a promise on this as he felt Aido stirring again on his lap.

"I won't," Kaname's gaze remained firmly downcast and his arms slid around his middle, hugging himself. He was terribly ashamed that Zero felt he had to make him promise these things in order to trust him... more especially because he knew in his heart that Zero did not fear for nothing.

Zero could have cried for the very visible way Kaname was crawling back inside of himself. He would have felt better if Kaname had been angry at being badgered like this and verbally pushed back like he would have in the past... but it was clear Kaname felt he had no right to any pride or self-defense in this matter. Zero hated even unintentionally reinforcing that, but that was _exactly_ the attitude which he feared might lead Kaname into a horrible situation with Nasser if they weren't careful. This was an unusual situation and for some reason it seemed like Kaname just wouldn't fight for himself like he should. He wouldn't defend his honor in this regard, perhaps because he still felt he had none. He obviously felt tainted and it was much too small a step from there to feeling like he had nothing else to lose, especially when stacked against the dire threat hanging over them.

Zero may not usually be able to see the web of future possibilities as clearly as Kaname could, but right now he was all too aware of how Nasser could use these things to manipulate Kaname right into his hands. He'd_ seen _the way Kaname reacted to the other pureblood. He'd seen Kaname powerless to even respond as the other man came on to him. He'd seen what had happened in his memories. Kaname was the strongest person he knew, but he was not invincible. Nasser was horribly dangerous to his lover and Zero would do anything to protect him, even if it made him feel cruel. He knew this was a shitty situation and probably a horrible way to deal with it, but he didn't know what else to do. Ironically, he suddenly realized he had a deeper appreciation for the load Kaname carried. It sucked to try to foresee possible futures and it sucked worse when you felt like you were stabbing around in the dark in vain efforts to avert them.

"I trust you, Kaname. I know where your heart is, I don't doubt that or doubt you for a moment. I just don't want you to be hurt," Zero whispered, his voice cracking ever so slightly. "You value yourself too cheaply. You lay yourself down for me too easily and I... I'd rather die."

The earnest, completely non-condemning words startled Kaname and his gaze flicked quickly back up to Zero's. The love he saw there helped ease a little of the rawness inside him. The look in the hunter's eyes told him that this wasn't about trust or faithfulness. Zero was truly afraid for him.

Zero leaned forward and kissed the pureblood, briefly but urgently, willing Kaname to understand everything he didn't have time or capacity to put into words. Then he released him. Aido was stirring in earnest now and Zero shifted him carefully, sliding an arm behind his shoulders.

Aido returned to consciousness slowly, the pain flooding back into his senses making him wish he could flee back into the merciful dark, but his body wasn't obliging. There was a strange tingling in his chest and he wondered if he was hallucinating because as he awoke, he could swear there was this incredibly good taste in his mouth. _Weird, very weird. It was really nice though._ About the only nice thing there was at the moment since his body was in agony.

He stirred feverishly, trying to find some kind of relief, a whimper of pain escaping along with tears that traced down the side of his face. Suddenly he realized he was not alone. _That's right... Zero was there. Zero had fed him... _His half-lidded eyes fluttered open quickly. _Wait.. Zero had what? _

"You gave me blood..." he murmured as if in shock, still quite out of it and apparently not yet aware of Kaname's presence. He knew how Zero felt about vampires for the most part and this was quite unexpected. _Wow... _he hadn't expected the hunter's blood to taste so good either._ Must be because of his relationship with Kaname-sama. _

Zero glanced at Kaname before giving Aido a wry look. "Yeah, you owe me. But tell anyone and I'll kill you myself, okay?" To be honest, he felt they were merely even now. Aido had once worn himself to the bone to keep Zero safe in an ice-coma so he had a chance to survive. He'd simply returned the favor.

Aido grumbled something indistinct in return. He seemed to be having difficulty breathing and speaking. It was a weak shadow of their usual banter, but Zero found it slightly reassuring. A moment later however, Aido's body tensed and a racking cough sized him, making the blonde weep from pain. "Zero... it hurts... it _really_ hurts..." he sobbed softly, making the hunter's heart twist painfully in his chest as he held his injured friend, rocking him gently.

Kaname brushed Aido's icy cheek gently with the back of his fingers, reaching out and numbing the other's pain as much as he could. He willed Aido's torn veins to mend, gently, invisibly reaching into his chest and squeezing his fluttering heart, forcing it to continue beating steadily. Aido was still in a bad way. He was more stable than before and out of immediate danger, but he was a long way from all right.

Aido blinked in surprise and it seemed to take him several long moments before he realized who else was there with them. "K-Kaname-sama..." he panted softly, a panicky look coming into his pain fogged eyes. "I-I'm sorry. I tried to fight... I tried..."

"Shh..." Kaname soothed, stroking Aido's cheek again and wishing the other vampire didn't always have that reaction to him. "You did good, Aido. You're still alive, I'm proud of you," he murmured what he knew Aido needed to hear, which also happened to be true. "I need you to tell us what happened. Who did this to you and why? Can you do that, Aido?"

Aido nodded slowly, obviously struggling to comprehend everything that was being said to him but warmed by Kaname's assurances. There was so much he wanted and needed to tell them, but the thoughts wouldn't form in the right order. They flittered around him mockingly, like parts of a dream that you forgot when you awoke and yet you knew you _had _dreamed _something... _

The young noble's eyebrows knit. "There... was rain. It was raining. I... there was a phone... I mean a phone call... no, not a call... a... a..." he couldn't seem to find the word he wanted and became badly frustrated. Zero felt Aido's pulse racing unevenly under his touch as he kept two fingers lightly against the side of his friend's throat. Aido shuddered as some new pain rippled through him and tried to curl into a ball that his body couldn't sustain. More tears leaked down his face as he seemed to forget everything else but his suffering. _"Oh God..."_ he sobbed softly, fingers pressing weakly at his injured stomach which was obviously causing him great pain.

"I don't think he can do this, Kaname," Zero murmured, his voice a little thick as Aido's other hand latched onto his, squeezing tightly as if in desperate search of a lifeline. He knew they needed answers, but he really wanted to put Aido back out, he hated having to watch him suffer like this. He wondered when he'd turned into such a big softie, but he couldn't help the way he felt.

"He must," Kaname murmured, although he was obviously also affected by the sight. The pureblood shifted down Aido's body and pressed his palms on either side of his bleeding stomach. Aido's skin was feverish and sticky with blood under his palms and the pureblood breathed slowly, his head dipping a little as he concentrated on what he was doing. The younger vampire was badly torn up inside. If he were human he would have been dead long ago.

Aido felt the warmth flowing into his body and the slow numbing of the hurt. He sobbed raggedly for breath, even as he looked down in something like pained wonder at the pureblood studiously bowed over him. It meant a terrible lot to him that Kaname wanted to help him.

Kaname knew he was doing little better than plugging holes in a sieve, but it was what had to be done at the moment and he exerted significant effort trying to help Aido deal with his pain. "Aido, listen to me. Focus on my voice," he said in low, soothing tones when it looked like the noble was in danger of blacking out again. "It was raining. You got a phone call... who was it from?"

"Naija..." Aido murmured, his voice slightly trancelike around his labored breathing. "But it... it was a message, not a call. I tried to call back... couldn't reach her. Was... busy with the phone... and then... the computer... didn't know there was someone else in the lab..."

"Who was in the lab, Aido?" Kaname coaxed patiently when the silence lengthened. Aido stirred himself but didn't seem to understand the question. Kaname tried again, but the blond was drifting once more and the pureblood forced himself to be patient and not push too hard, despite the urgency he felt clawing at the back of his mind.

"It had to have been a hunter," Zero said quietly. "If it was the same people who attacked me in the woods then at least one of them has to be. Diachi may have been lying through his teeth about everything else, but maybe he really has got hunters working for him somehow." The best person to take out a vampire, even better than another vampire, was a hunter. He was very aware of that fact and he doubted that a normal human could have gotten the drop on Aido even with the Bloody Rose. "Was it a hunter, Aido? Was there more than one?" Zero pressed lightly, trying to get a response, but Aido just cringed at the words and hung onto his hand tighter.

Zero glanced at the soft, blistered hand clutched in his and a puzzled frown spread across his features. He had not noticed before because Aido's hands were so covered in his own blood and he'd been so worried about his other injuries but there was something really wrong with the slender, graceful digits. Aido's hands were blistered as if they'd been scorched, but not by a normal fire. The unique blackening spoke of a hunter related source of origin. Zero remembered the charred flesh on the grip of the Bloody Rose, but there were no scrapes or tears as should have been present if Aido had gotten the burns from fighting with his attacker over the gun.

Zero turned Aido's blackened hand over, inspecting it. On a hunch, he pushed the blonde's ruin sleeve up a little and he felt himself freeze in shock. _What the hell? Aido... what did you do? _

Black, spidery lines ran up Aido's arms and there were blisters on his wrists and inside the crook of his elbow where the veins lay close to the surface. It was as if the very blood had boiled in his veins. Zero recognized that type of injury all too painfully well.

Quickly, Zero reached into his jacket pocket and drew out a small tube of salve which he always tried to keep on hand as part of his hunting gear. He should have thought of it sooner, but it hadn't crossed his mind until he'd seen those burns. He rubbed some of the pale cream onto Aido's blistered fingers and then carefully dabbed more around the blackened edges of the gunshot wounds. It was a special balm which helped sooth and neutralize the effects of certain types of hunter damage upon the vampire body. It was definitely not standard hunting equipment, but it _was_ a necessary evil for Zero.

"Hanabusa..." he murmured in shock. "Hanabusa, you little idiot, what did you do? Did you actually try to cast a _hunter _charm?" Zero recognized the distinct pattern of the wounds. He'd been there, done that too many times when he'd not encapsulated certain charms carefully enough within the protective formula that he and Aido had devised. Some of the nastier ones could literally boil your blood if you screwed them up. He'd seriously freaked Yagari out the day he'd accidentally discovered that. Of course, he hadn't been too himself happy either. He'd needed Kaname after that little misadventure.

"Yeah..." Aido gasped with difficulty, his head lolling on Zero's lap as he finally seemed to battle his way back through the fog. "All that time working on them with you... thought it would be fun to try," he muttered with a weak attempt at flippancy.

Zero and Aido were both keenly aware of how dangerous and stupid it would be for a vampire who had no hunter blood in him to attempt such a charm. It wasn't only foolish, it was suicidal. Zero honestly couldn't believe he'd even tried it and he knew that despite Aido's words, it could only have been an act of sheer desperation on the blonde's part. Aido must have seriously thought he'd been about to die. Of course, from the look of his wounds, he'd had good reason to think so.

"That protection formula we came up with... doesn't work so great for a born vampire," the blond added wryly as he clung to Zero, his eyelids drooping heavily.

"You idiot, you're lucky to be alive. The containment formula is probably the only thing that kept you from killing _yourself_ by twisting a hunter charm," Zero scolded, but his tone was gentle and worried. "You used one of the ustulo charms, didn't you? Aido, even _I _don't try to wield those, they're too volatile. You _know _that, I _told _you what happened when I tried..."

"I know... I know...," Aido wheezed, coughing and trying bravely not to cry anymore. "You told me. You told me it-it could kill you. That's why... I used it." Aido was drifting again and Zero and Kaname exchanged extremely confused glances until Aido managed to speak again.

"The man... who attacked me. There was only one, and he _was_ a hunter," the noble murmured, proving that he had been aware of what Kaname and Zero had said before, even if unable to respond coherently until now. "But he was a... ex-human too. I wouldn't have known, except... the gun. He had the Bloody Rose, Zero, and I saw... I saw that it burned his hands to hold it. Th-that's when I knew." Aido clenched his eyes, gritting his teeth at another wave of pain.

He had been at the same school with Zero for over a year before figuring out that _he_ was a vampire. It was very difficult to tell with hunters because of the recessive strain of vampire that they all carried within them. Only seeing how Zero's gun had reacted to his attacker had tipped Aido off in time for that knowledge to be useful to him. That, combined with the insight gained from his and Zero's friendship and collaboration over the past few years were ultimately the only things which had saved his life. It had also helped that the Bloody Rose seemed to refuse to work for the other ex-human as well as it did for Zero. The pain of handling the rebellious weapon had decidedly thrown off the man's aim, which was why he'd been shot in the shoulder instead of the heart that first time.

"He'd been turned?" Zero echoed quietly, absorbing the idea that one of the hunters who had felled him in the woods and the vampire who had initially led him into the trap might in fact have been one and the same. It wasn't a total surprise at this point, but it was worrying. Maybe all the hunters in question had been turned. That would explain a lot. Especially if Diachi Sato - a pureblood vampire capable of creating such ex-humans - was involved. Zero glanced over at Kaname and saw that his lover appeared to be thinking the same thing.

Aido nodded against him. "Recently, I think. He-he felt very _young _if you know... what I mean." Zero didn't, but he nodded anyway. "He wasn't tamed, but he was bound. At least... I'm pretty sure he was... bound to his master's will, I mean. He had that look - the empty eyes. But he was good. We fought. He almost k-killed me. I got shot... my ice, I couldn't... I couldn't do anything anymore..." he broke off coughing again and Zero rocked him soothingly again. Aido didn't have to explain, Zero understood.

As soon as the hunter bullets had penetrated Aido's body, the blonde had become frighteningly defenseless. He lost his ability to manipulate ice, he lost a good chunk of his superhuman strength and speed... he became in essence nothing more than an injured young man with a slight build who spent more time in the lab or out on the town than at the gym. He could be far too easily overpowered by a tougher ex-human opponent, especially one who had been trained all his life to hunt and kill vampires. Aido had still put up one hell of a fight apparently, but it would not have ultimately been enough.

Zero understood perfectly what must have happened then. Unable to pull on his vampire nature any longer and about to be killed, Aido must have done the last, desperate thing he could think of. He'd tried invoking one of his friend's hunter charms instead, since those were not as dependant on his vampire strength. It was an incredibly stupid thing to do, but trust Aido to be smart enough to do something stupid and have it actually almost work.

"It didn't... quite work..." Aido was starting to tremble again. "Mostly it-it backfired on me, but-but it kind of worked. Even if it was just because he-he was on top of me and he got th-the backwash... it d-did hurt him. It didn't kill him, but it was really strange. He... he looked so shocked, like he was waking up. He... he grabbed his neck and looked at his hands and then he..." deep confusion was painted on the young noble's pale face. "He put the gun to his own head," he whispered. "He... he just... killed himself."

Zero closed his eyes for a moment. He knew what had happened. What confused Aido made perfect sense to him. Aido was right, the hunter's will had been stripped and bound, but his mind must not have been completely overwritten. Somewhere inside he must have still been aware, must have known he was a slave, just like Zero had known when Shizuka took over his body and prevented him from interfering with her plans for Yuki once, years ago. When Aido wounded his attacker with the hunter charm, it had repressed the bound ex-human's vampire side enough to allow the hunter's consciousness and will to re-assert control for a few moments. The hunter had then been free to choose death rather than face knowing he would return to the servitude of his pureblood master as soon as he healed. Zero could understand the choice. If things had been different... but fortunately, they hadn't been.

"What did he look like?" A sudden, terrible suspicion had crept into Zero's mind.

Aido frowned as if trying to recall. He swallowed several times. "D-dark hair, medium build, dark eyes. I-I don't remember much more. I think he had a kind of scar over his right eye, maybe."

Zero closed his eyes for a moment. Well, now he knew what had happened to at least one of those two hunters who had disappeared so mysteriously not long ago. They hadn't been taken out by their quarry at all. They had probably been lured and trapped just like he had been, only the price they paid had been much, much steeper. They had probably been the ones who were in turn instructed to trap him and set this whole mess in motion.

"Why did you come to the lab in the first place, Aido?" Kaname asked gently, not liking having to grill the critically injured vampire, but knowing that time was of the essence for all of them. "Did Dr. Kish want you to come here?"

"Yes," Aido murmured, shifting his gaze back Kaname. "She left me messages. She sounded really worried. She said... said Sato Labs' network had been... compromised. She'd found things... I'm not sure what exactly, but she was terribly upset. She said she thought we were wrong about... the virus. The way it was manifesting in us, the blood tablet intolerance... according to her, it _is_ a side-effect, not the g-goal. She seemed too a-afraid to say what she thought the goal really was. I've never heard her like that. She had test data she needed me to see. She wanted my-my opinion in case she was wrong. Said she was at the Sato lab and was uploading it to our shared server, so I came here to retrieve it."

Aido coughed fitfully, although he seemed in less pain now that Kaname was concentrating on him, and speech seemed to be coming easier. "Naija... is she all right?" he asked suddenly.

Kaname's expression didn't change, but his eyes were sad. Zero blanched slightly. "I'm sorry, Aido. It could have been a trick. Either accidentally or intentionally she may have lured you here..." he murmured, trying to soften the blow that was coming.

"No!" Aido shook his head emphatically. "You don't understand. She... she was scared. She's _never_ scared..." he swallowed with difficulty. "When I got here... there was one more message. Not on my phone, but on the computer, with the files. She must have recorded it in a hurry, straight on to the server through her video conference feed. I only just had time to see it before..." he swallowed convulsively, trying to push back the terrifying memory of the attack. "Before," he repeated simply.

Zero glanced over at Kaname. _The smashed computers. _It wasn't Aido's research that had been the target, it was whatever Naija had sent him, and whatever she had told him. Hadn't Diachi said something to the effect that Naija had been killed in his lab and it had been conveniently trashed in the process? No doubt, whatever she had had on that end had been as thoroughly destroyed as Aido's set up here had been.

"That last message was... bad," Aido closed his eyes, recalling it with a shiver. He'd been so horrified and absorbed watching the video that he'd not heard the intruder behind him until it was almost too late_. He ducked only just in time as the computer exploded in front of him... _Aido struggled to keep himself in the present.

"Naija said someone had attacked them. Granger had been killed. One of the attackers was killed too and she got away but the other was still after her. I-I think she knew why, but she didn't have time to tell me," there was an agony of frustration in Aido's pained blue eyes as they locked on Kaname again. "She wanted me to tell you... she said I _had_ to tell you... Diachi-sama..." Aido's consciousness wavered slightly. Kaname had leaned close to catch the soft, failing words and Aido unconsciously reached out and gripped the front of the pureblood's shirt. He clung to it as if to keep from falling into the waiting darkness. His blackened fingers left a dirty crimson stain on the pureblood's clothing which would have horrified him if he'd been aware enough to notice. "She said... must tell... Kaname-sama..." he was starting to fade out again, but fighting valiantly.

Kaname's grip was gentle as his hand closed around Aido's, and only Zero could see the urgent flicker in his lover's steady gaze. "Diachi? What did she say about Diachi, Aido? This is very important; I need you to tell me. Hang on, Hanabusa..." he said in soothing but commanding tones, stroking Aido's hair again and exerting a lot of effort to keep him conscious. "Was Diachi the one behind the attacks?"

"N-no..." Aido groaned with effort, obviously fighting with everything he had to obey Kaname and deliver his message. "She said... he's in... danger..." he mumbled. "They're going to-to kill him."

In the stunned silence, Aido's eyes started to drift close and he battled to open them again. Kaname and Zero exchanged confused and stupefied looks. That was not what they expected to hear, nor did it make any sense.

"Who are _they, _Aido? Who wants to kill Diachi?" Kaname asked in the same soothing tones.

"I don't know..." Aido looked frustrated and regretful again. "That's what I-I meant. I think she knew... she talked like... she knew, but she didn't say. She was so worried for him, but there wasn't time. The transmission cut off abruptly after a few seconds. She only just had time to say that _he _was going to kill Diachi-sama, and going to make it look..." his eyes held Kaname's with glazed, intense concern. "...like _you _had killed him, Kaname-sama."


	29. Control of the Center

_A/N: Sorry for the long wait! And for the fact that I don't have time to do review responses right now. But I thought it was more important to hurry up and get the chapter out there for you all this weekend rather than it possibly getting pushed back again yet another week. So here it is, and I shall get to the review responses as soon as I can, okay? Thank you all for your patience and thank you all SO MUCH for all the wonderful and awesome reviews! :)_

_There's a lot of set-up and maneuvering going on as Nasser's plans start to be disrupted (finally!) and Kaname starts moving his own counter-plans into place, so I hope the chapter doesn't feel too slow. Sorry for having too much of Diachi and Seiji in it, I didn't want to have to write so much about them, but it was necessary to the plot. We're all done with them now though, so we can focus back on the people we actually care about. :D _

_The title of this chapter comes from a chess analogy. In chess, gaining control of the center squares allows pieces to be moved to any part of the board more easily and can also produce a cramping effect on the opponent - which is, in effect, what Kaname is in the process of trying to do - wrest control of the center away from Nasser. :) _

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: "Control of the Center"**

Kaname and Zero traded silent, shocked looks. This situation kept changing and shifting, but there was a terrible pattern starting to emerge. Blaming the nobles' deaths on Zero was dreadful in itself, but apparently in reality it was just the stepping stone to blaming Kaname for murdering another pureblood to cover up the previous 'crimes' which he was supposed to have masterminded. After the falling out they'd just had, who would question that Kaname had strong reason to try to eliminate the other pureblood? Especially if Diachi had time to stir up trouble with the Council _before _he was conveniently murdered.

If they were given even a shadow of a reason to hang the death of another pureblood on him on top of everything else, Kaname knew he would be instantly damned, especially if he had not had time to at least _try_ to prepare for that sudden and unexpected accusation.

He didn't even have to wonder who was behind this incredibly clever deception any longer. Whether or not Diachi had been complicit at all, or whether he was in fact a completely innocent pawn, he had certainly not plotted his own death. No. Kaname didn't need to be told who the mysterious _he _was. He knew. He knew because the snake had only just called him, laying the groundwork for the next stage of his plan. He knew because if everything had happened _as_ planned... if he had been fooled into thinking Diachi was behind everything until the other pureblood's sudden death left him high and dry with all his contingency efforts pointing in the wrong direction... there _would_ have only been one way out for him. A way that led him straight into Nasser Ardon's clutches. _Check._

Moisture welled silently in Aido's eyes, he was oblivious to what was going through Kaname's mind and was still dealing with his own problems. He was too injured and weak to hide the tears. "There was a lot of noise and... flashes of light right before the picture distorted and went dead," he whispered and Kaname blinked once, tearing himself from his thoughts and realizing that Aido was still speaking about the end of Naija Kish's last message to him.

"Is she... okay?" Aido repeated, gaze still locked on Kaname. The young noble obviously had already guessed that she wasn't.

Kaname leaned forward and kissed Aido gently on the forehead, silently wiping the tears from his eyes with gentle touches. "Don't worry about it right now, Aido. You need your strength. I need you to get better, okay?"

Aido seemed stunned by Kaname's tenderness, but he saw the gentle evasion for the sad answer it was. Naija was dead. He'd already known, really, he just hadn't wanted to accept it. He closed his eyes and leaned into Kaname's unexpected and very welcome touch. His other hand, still in Zero's grip, held on tightly. Zero leaned forward a little, squeezing back gently, careful of the blonds' injuries as he cradled him.

"She died to get that information to me, didn't she?" he swallowed roughly.

"She had already been marked for death, all of you were," Kaname said softly. "Everyone who was in An'swala on your team perished last night, except for you, Aido," he broke the news as gently as he could, although he suspected that Naija was the only one with whom Aido would feel any real loss. "She would have died regardless, but by getting that information to you, she may have just prevented more deaths. You both did."

Kaname wished fervently that whatever the other information was could have survived the attack, since Aido obviously had only had time to view her video message before all hell broke loose and now it was all gone. But he wasn't going to tell Aido that, the boy had been through enough and the information he _did_ have was invaluable. It changed everything and may have just saved them all from walking right into Nasser's brilliantly executed trap. _If _they still had time to prevent it from coming to completion. After all, getting Diachi to believe this wild story was not going to be easy at this point.

"Listen..." Aido murmured hollowly, struggling once more with the darkness trying to claim him. "The hunter... he destroyed my computers. But they... they weren't the only ones. Backup drive... in the basement. I wasn't supposed to... don't tell Sato-sama. It's a-a serious breach of my security agreement with him, but when I started to suspect something I... I mirrored the server so that everything landing on it would also be stored away on the backup in case they ever... ever closed down our connection and confiscated the files or something..." Aido was fading fast now, his eyes starting to turn glassy. "I..." he struggled for a few more words. "I was... playing spy." He gave the barest hint of a grin towards Zero.

Zero smiled a bit painfully, a choking lump in his throat as he remembered the earlier teasing between he, Aido and Kain on the subject of Aido's rampant paranoia and his over-zealousness to be a man of mystery in his dealings with the Sato syndeo. Aido may have only been "playing spy", but the game he'd ended up in had turned out to be deadly serious. It was apparently a damn good thing he _had _been so paranoid.

Kaname gave a surprised, genuine smile which made Aido's face glow even as the light behind his eyes began to fade away. "Well done, Aido," the pureblood murmured honestly. "Well done."

Zero felt Aido's body go slack in his arms and for a moment he was alarmed, until he realized that there were still three vampires registering in his senses in the immediate area. Kaname, himself, and Aido. Aido's flame was very faint, like his heartbeat, but he was still with them. The silly little fool had passed out with a smile on his face of all things. Zero couldn't help the wry grin which tugged at his lips.

"He's just unconscious," Kaname murmured with relief as if mirroring the hunter's thoughts. He backed away a little and rose to his feet. His phone had buzzed in his pocket a few minutes ago, indicating that he'd received a message and he checked it now. A grim smile grew on his face as he read the text file that had been sent to him.

Zero shrugged out of his rain coat and rolled it up, sliding it under Aido's head as he settled him carefully back on the ground. They needed to get him somewhere safe where he could receive better care while he mended, but he wasn't sure where that was right now. Aido was obviously not supposed to survive this attack. The fact that he _had_ had just thrown a serious cog into the works for their adversaries and they had to be careful lest someone try to rectify that problem. Although realistically, Zero figured that the damage had already been done and killing Aido at this point would no longer accomplish anything, so he was probably out of harm's way. Still, better safe than sorry.

There was a weird shaped sink in the corner of the room which looked like it must be used in the preparation of specimens. Zero used it to wash up a bit, getting Aido's blood off his hands and arms, although his shirt and pants were definitely goners. As he dried his hands, he glanced back to Kaname who had just finished scrolling through the information on his phone.

"Something funny?" he asked upon seeing the pureblood's expression.

"Only what utter fools Diachi and I just made of ourselves," Kaname said sardonically. There was a devastating genius in all of this. After all, you had to be pretty quick on your toes to manipulate not one, but _two _full grown purebloods - at the same time no less.

Zero cocked an eyebrow. "You think Diachi was duped? Or that he just didn't realize that he was ultimately an expendable partner?"

"I can't be entirely certain yet, but _this_," Kaname gave the phone in his hand a little wave. "Makes the former at least feasible. It is quite possible that neither of us were thinking entirely clearly the last time we spoke."

Zero gave him a look that indicated further elucidation was required and Kaname complied.

"Seiren sent me the information I requested on the four dead scientists. Naturally, she was quite thorough." To be honest, Seiren's skill at information gathering and uncovering people's secrets was almost unsettling. Kaname was glad she worked for him and not one of his adversaries. He certainly wouldn't have wanted her rooting around in _his _past or private life. "Do you recall a certain extra touchiness when Diachi spoke of Dr. Kish? Apparently, there's some reason for that." Kaname's smile was dry. "There is strong reason to believe that in addition to being a brilliant mind and one of his inner circle, she was probably also his daughter."

Zero's eyebrows climbed upward again. He looked both surprised and a little dubious. "Wait... his _what_? How the heck did we not know _that_?"

Kaname shook his head dismissively, as if the matter was too obvious for words. "She was a noble, Zero," he pointed out in a _do the math _tone of voice. "Obviously, she has her mother's name and it's not as if Diachi actually raised her, at least not directly." Kaname had never met Dr. Kish in person, but the picture on her file made it clear that if she was Diachi Sato's daughter, she must have inherited the lion's share of her mother's looks, since he would certainly never have pegged her as being related to the other pureblood at first glance. She looked quite foreign to be honest.

"Purebloods almost never acknowledge non-pureblood offspring and they usually have many of them. Diachi is over 800 years old, he probably has more mixed-blood children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and the like running around out there than even he is aware of." From what he knew of the other vampire, Kaname felt that was a safe assumption. Diachi was a traditionalist. He was not a wanton playboy like his younger brother, but he _was_ a pureblood male and there were certain privileges, pleasures and responsibilities that went with that status. Strengthening the gene pool was considered a pureblood's duty, and it was an honor to those so gifted.

A pureblood's obligation ended at planting the seed, however. Senri Shiki was an excellent example. He was Kaname's cousin, but few people made that connection and he was certainly not considered part of the Kuran line. Aristocrat children fathered by a pureblood were not considered illegitimate and they carried no stigma, quite the opposite. They were not hidden, but neither was it considered socially gracious or acceptable to brag about such heritage. Still, the fact that Naija's possible relationship to Diachi _had_ been rather well concealed indicated that their history was probably somewhat complicated.

Zero looked a bit disgusted. "Lovely. So if he's in the running for world's most prolific baby daddy, can we be sure he even remembers that the doc was his kid? For that matter, are we really sure she was? You said she was _probably _his daughter. Is there some kind of doubt?"

"Hardly the _most _prolific," Kaname couldn't help chuckling at Zero's turn of phrase. "Diachi is actually quite conservative as far as pureblood's go. In any case, I wouldn't say there's _doubt_ so much as a lack of evidence," he clarified. Zero looked unconvinced, but Kaname was not about to have a discussion about vampire mores with the hunter at a moment like this. "Seiren does not say in here that the woman was related to Diachi because there is nothing concrete to support that, but that is the conclusion which _I _draw from reading the facts. Interpreting certain parts of the good doctor's history make it almost impossible to think otherwise, and make it fairly certain that Diachi _had_ to have been aware of his paternity in this case."

Zero was now giving Kaname a _you lost me _look, so Kaname explained as quickly and concisely as he could.

"Naija's mother was one of Diachi's former protégé's. She was still serving under Diachi at the time she became pregnant. According to Seiren's intel, there is no mention of who the father of her child was. One can only assume the obvious. Then, a few years later, there was apparently some kind of falling out between Naija's mother and Diachi because the woman was exiled and eventually executed." Kaname glanced down at the phone in his hand again. He shook his head, feeling that he should have guessed something about this sooner due to his past dealings with Diachi, although to be fair, the other pureblood's private life had never been of any particular importance to their dealings before now.

"That's _one _way to end a relationship, I suppose," Zero commented darkly, his intense disapproval obvious.

"Mmm," Kaname murmured distractedly as he scrolled quickly through the very brief sketch of relevant details that Seiren had included in the dossier. Although there was no further information here, he would lay serious odds that it had _not_ been a mere lover's quarrel. Diachi had once lectured him on the dangers of letting yourself get too close to your protégés - had warned him that you were opening yourself to the possibility of betrayal. While it had merely irritated Kaname at the time, he found the warning rather telling now. _The voice of personal experience, perhaps? _

It didn't matter, except that the more he knew and understood Diachi's frame of mind at this point, the better, since he was going to have to be dealing with him again shortly and they hadn't exactly ended their last conversation on friendly terms. He'd been blind to the other vampire's state of mind before, and it had cost him. He would not let that happen a second time.

"Whatever his reasons for disposing of the mother, the curious and telling thing is that he did _not _show any disfavor towards her daughter. The woman had been labeled a traitor. Disgrace like that should have fallen on the her whole family, but it did not. Diachi kept Naija near him and kept her past and her maternal ties quiet." He summarized what he was reading for Zero. "He even paid for her education. Young Kish showed all the early signs of a genius level IQ, which is perhaps another reason why Diachi seems to have taken a particular interest in her career all the way along." Naija had been on par with Aido when it came to intelligence, so Kaname was quite aware of how valuable that had probably made her to Diachi. He felt sure there were some less tangible elements in play as well, however, because her brilliance and accomplishments alone, impressive though they were, could not completely explain how she'd managed to rise so high up in Diachi's syndeo so quickly, or at such a young age. Although Diachi would likely never admit any such thing, Kaname suspected the other pureblood might possibly have had more than mere passing feelings for both Naija and her departed mother. Now that Kaname replayed their previous phone conversation with an open mind to the possibility that not all of it had been a lie, he could clearly tell that Naija's death had been something of a sore spot for the other pureblood, whatever the reason.

"There is almost no way that the child of someone who had been executed for treason would so quickly rise within Diachi's ranks unless..." Kaname shrugged.

Zero nodded, understanding now. "Unless a healthy dose of nepotism was involved."

Kaname's lips twitched wryly. "Exactly. None of which is very pertinent to us at this moment except for the fact that it explains why Diachi might have taken her death harder than that of a mere subordinate, which in turn might have clouded his judgment... even as mine, has been clouded," the pureblood added quietly, hating to admit to the failure, but knowing it was quite obvious.

Naija had been Diachi's hidden sore spot, someone about whom he could not afford to reveal his feelings. Zero had been the same thing to Kaname. When they spoke, neither of them realized they were treading on one another's stress lines. It was aggravating and somewhat frightening to realize that Nasser had so skillfully played them against one another and struck so shrewdly at what would unsettle them both the most.

That was what Nasser did, Kaname knew. He found what you cared about and he used it against you. That's why he himself preached caring about nothing as the ultimate strength. Maybe he was right in a purely clinical sense... but Kaname knew he would never manage to be that strong.

Zero gave him a concerned frown. "Hey, you've got a right to be a little distracted. It's been a shitty couple of days. But we know what's going on now, we can stop this."

Kaname loved the earnestness in those fierce amethyst eyes. They gave him confidence and hope. _No... maybe he could never be Nasser's brand of strong, but he had his own ways, and he'd be damned if he let that bastard think he could run around playing with them all like puppets and get away with it!_

The pureblood gave a small nod. "We must," he agreed simply. He knew it wouldn't be easy, Nasser's plans were far too well laid and were dangerously close to fruition. But they had the one, small advantage of having found them out sooner than the other pureblood would have hoped. Now, they had to press that slim advantage and hope it could be enough, because if it wasn't...

"We have a lot of work to do, and we must do it quickly," Kaname said quietly as he flipped open his phone again.

* * *

"Brother? Are you still here?" Seiji Sato poked his head into his elder brother's study with an impatient look on his face. He frowned and let himself into the room when he saw the older pureblood standing silently by the window, gazing out at the watery moonlight. "Honestly, and you say _I'm _the one who's always late! We'd better go. You know what an unbearably long drive it is to Mother's summer house and you know what a bitch she is when we're late. I bet Celia is already there, no doubt playing the perfect little virgin daughter," he snorted sardonically. "We should..."

"_You_ should shut up and stop filling my ears with your _useless _babble!" Diachi was suddenly across the room and holding Seiji by the throat. He shoved his younger brother roughly into the wall, his face clouded and troubled. He was angry, hurting and didn't have time to be running around trying to appease his mother on top of everything else that was happening right now. "The only reason she's called us all out there earlier than usual is because of you and your _stupid_ antics." He slapped Seiji roughly upside the head. "When are you ever going to grow up and stop being such a pathetic waste of air?"

It was so grossly unfair that one couldn't choose their family. He had to keep protecting and cleaning up after his ass of a brother and his sweetly two-faced little sister while the people he really cared for... or had wanted to care for... Diachi closed his eyes and allowed the anger to run out of him before he did something he would regret later. What was done was done. It wasn't Seiji's fault, he was just handy. It was Kuran who needed to pay.

"Get off!" Seiji shoved Diachi away from him brusquely. He rubbed his throat and smarting head, but he did not retaliate. He knew better. "If you don't want to go, fine! But I'm not going alone to bear the brunt of your not being around, _again,_" he shot back.

Diachi scowled and turned away, facing his desk and the window once more. He loved his mother, but she had become so unpredictable and demanding lately. She'd been awake too long he felt, he wished she would decide to hibernate for a while. Too bad his siblings were far too young for him to hope the same about them.

Seiji's hand slipped into his pocket as he watched his brother's back with burning eyes. _Self righteous prig._ In his pocket he felt the smooth outline of a shape through the folds of thick fabric in which it was wrapped. He wasn't really sure what it was, nor did he care. Some hunter do-dad that was inactive until it touched vampire skin. Just the thought of it gave him the willies, but he'd been assured it was perfectly safe as long as he kept the cloth between it and him.

_"Just press it to his hand or his neck, anywhere it can make contact with flesh and we'll do the rest." _The wordsechoed in Seiji's mind and he found himself wanting to do it right now. Unfortunately that wouldn't due at all. The device wasn't fatal, it was just debilitating. Agni had made clear to Seiji that the move had to be made at a specific point along the long, deserted roadways that led out towards their mother's remote estate. That's where the ambush was waiting, that's when it would matter.

Seiji wasn't taking orders from a _servant _mind you, it was simply what made sense, of course. He was the only one who could get close enough to Diachi and who was strong enough to survive any initial reaction before the _whatever-it-was_ did it's thing and made the elder pureblood vulnerable. That was all, he wouldn't have to do any further dirty work himself, Agni had promised. He didn't have to kill his brother, all he had to do was place the device. Just that. Just that and then everything would be taken care of. It almost didn't seem real. He pulled his hand back out of his pocket and rubbed his neck again. His healing factor had already taken care of any kind of mild soreness that his brother's handling might have caused, but that wasn't the point.

Diachi sighed and leaned on his desk. "I'm sorry, Jii," he said quietly, using his brother's nickname which indicated his mood had shifted. He supposed Seiji got the short end of his temper more often than not. To be fair though, it probably wouldn't happen if the younger vampire didn't make himself such a damn good target.

A short man stood in the open doorway and knocked respectfully on the doorframe. Unlike Seiji, he did not enter the room unbidden. "Diachi-sama, the car is ready," he announced with a small bow.

Diachi gave a dismissive wave of his hand as he crossed around behind his desk and took a seat. He opened a leather bound book and flipped through it, looking for the contact information for several highly placed members of the current Council of Elders. He needed to start making some calls and stirring the pot. Part of him regretted this. He didn't like giving those self-important mixed-blood bureaucrats reason to become even more involved in Pureblood affairs than they already made themselves, but this wasn't his fault. He felt he'd been more than fair. The world was full of deceit and Diachi thought grimly that he was apparently uniquely dull about spotting it in people before he was bitten by it. He had actually _liked _Kaname and he'd given him a chance to make this right. His fate was on his own head.

"I won't be needing the car, Agni," he told the servant. "But you may take my brother." He glanced up towards Seiji. "There have been some disturbing things happening which I must deal with. Please tell mother I will come when I can."

Seiji frowned, knowing that wouldn't do at all. He and Agni exchanged glances. "I told you, no way I'm going without you," he replied petulantly. "I'll just wait until you're ready." He turned and stormed out of the room before his brother could argue.

"_Jii!_" Diachi called after him, but Seiji chose not to respond and did not return. The elder pureblood scowled in frustration. He didn't have time for this right now. _Fine. _"Agni," he turned gaze upon the servant, still standing in the doorway, instead. "Send the car back to the garage but keep it ready. Call my mother and tell her I have been unavoidably detained, but that Seiji and I will come as soon as my business is completed."

Agni nodded. Diachi was already focused on his desk again, so he did not see the vaguest hint of a smile in the other vampire's eyes. "As you command, my lord."

* * *

Kaname and Zero sat across a narrow metal table from one another in a small cement room. The basement of Aido's laboratory was much less gleaming and aesthetic than the upper floors, but it was clean and packed with enough high tech electronic equipment to power a small city, or so Zero thought. In reality it was a fairly standard server and back-up system, but a high-end one for certain.

Aido was on his way to Night Haven, where a doctor had already been summoned to attend him. Kaname knew no safer place to put him at the moment. Kain and Ruka had come to collect him and take him there while Takuma and Senri, who _had_ still been in town, remained at Aido's apartment to keep an eye on things there. Kaname no longer thought that any of them would be in immediate danger, but he wasn't taking any chances. There was always the possibility that they were still being played, but if so he was blind to the game. He had to run with the cards they had been dealt and hope he was doing the right things.

Zero had called Yagari and quickly filled him in on an abridged version of recent events pertaining to the discovery of what had been behind the attack in the woods and the fact that they had rouge ex-human hunters running around making hits. That was something the Association _had _to know about as soon as possible. It seemed like the hunters in question had already perished between either being killed or killing themselves, but there might be more they didn't know about and caution was warranted. Their communications system had already been hijacked once, they needed to go into lockdown until they could be sure there were no more breaches within their ranks.

Then Kaname and Zero had swiftly made their way down here to the basement to retrieve Aido's information. Seiren had shown up and deftly extracted all the data, downloading and copying it for safe keeping and analysis while queuing up the video message Naija had left for them to view.

Everything had been done with a swift, rapid precision one would barely have believed possible and it hadn't taken very long, but Kaname was horribly aware that they were running out of time. It wouldn't make sense for Diachi to be taken out until after he'd stirred up trouble for Kaname. As soon as Diachi started airing his spurious accusations and other important persons became aware that there was bad blood between the two former allies, Diachi would become a prime target. If he was killed, there was no salvaging the situation.

Diachi had said he would wait to see if Kaname changed his mind and accepted his terms, but Kaname knew he wasn't going to wait very long. They needed to get to him and make him listen before all the wheels had been put into motion, but they also had had to have some kind of proof to offer so he wouldn't think it was merely a very lame and very desperate trick of some kind. Kaname glanced at the paused video on the computer screen that sat at the other end of the short table. They had that proof now and he could only hope they weren't already too late.

He dialed Diachi's number and pressed the phone to his ear, volume turned up so that Zero, sitting on the other side of the table, could hear them both.

"Diachi? It's Kaname. We need to talk."

* * *

Diachi had been about to dial when an incoming call interrupted him. He would have ignored it and used another line, except the screen on his phone indicated _who _the caller was. After a moment's pause, Diachi picked up the call.

"Talk? I think we said everything there was to say already, Kuran. If you've changed your mind and would like to beg forgiveness then I'll listen, but I make no promises. I'm not so sure that I can satisfy myself with the blood of a servant while the master goes unpunished."

On the other end of the line, Kaname's gaze flickered darkly, but he did not rise to the antagonistic bait offered in the other pureblood's words.

"Diachi, listen to me, this is very important and I do not know how much time we have. I _was _wrong, but we both were. I did not attack your people, or mine. Last time we spoke I thought _you_ ordered the scientists killed and were trying to pin the blame on me."

Diachi started to protest in incredulous tones, but Kaname cut him off. "I know you don't trust me right now, but this is important. Your life is in danger. Just hear me out, I swear I am telling you the truth, and I have proof to back it up. All I ask is for you to listen, then make your own decision on what to believe." They didn't have time for bullshit now. Kaname had no way of knowing whether Diachi had already spoken to anyone else, nor when or how the attempt on his life was going to be made, but good strategy indicated that it had to happen soon.

There was a long beat of silence before Diachi's voice came back over the phone in a slow, suspicious tone. "All right. I'm listening. But this had better be good."

"I'm afraid the only thing _good_ about it is the fact that we may have caught onto it before it was too late," Kaname responded seriously. "You and I have both been played. I thought you were double crossing me and you thought I was double crossing you. Someone else is behind this. I did not harm your people. Zero was _not _anywhere near your territory last night. He was not with me," he said quietly, knowing the admission was giving Diachi a certain level of power over him, but also knowing that he needed to offer a little vulnerability if he wanted the other pureblood to trust him. "But he _was not_ involved. He was attacked and held captive in a remote location. Myself and another person rescued him. _That _I _will_ swear to. The ones who held him were the ones who killed your scientists and they planted Zero's blood on the scene to implicate me."

Zero shot Kaname a look at the "rescued" comment since he'd pretty much gotten _himself_ out of there for the most part _thank-you-very-much_, but now wasn't the time to quibble.

"They did a rather good job of it then," Diachi said dryly, obviously thinking this was all an incredible flight of fancy that was wasting his time. "It's a nice story, but a little hard to swallow. I stopped believing in fairytales a long time ago."

"This is not a fairytale, this is deadly serious," Kaname countered earnestly. "Someone wants us at each other's throats. They're using you to do their dirty work, to denounce me to the Council as a dangerous lunatic. Then they're going to kill you and blame me so that everyone believes it."

There was another silence for a moment on the other end of the line. "You mean, they can _try _to kill me," Diachi said slowly, his voice dropping dangerously. "Because _try _is as close as they'll get. Is this some twisted way of threatening me, Kaname?" There was suspicion and a bit of confusion in his voice. He obviously wasn't quite ready to believe Kaname, nor did he appear to be very concerned for his own safety.

Zero scowled, stupid freaking purebloods and their insufferable pride. Diachi's could get him killed, which Zero didn't care too much about honestly, except for the fact that Kaname would go down for it and _that _could not be allowed to happen.

Kaname knew that he had to tread lightly and not imply that he was suggesting Diachi was in any way weak or an easy target. "No. This is not a threat, it's a warning. I have had news that such an attempt is going to be made. I don't know what they're planning, but it will happen soon and it is likely that someone in your household is involved. I agree it is an insane idea, but to risk trying it, they must think they have a chance of succeeding," he reasoned swiftly.

"Hunters were used to kill your scientists. A hunter tried to kill Hanabusa Aido as well, just a few minutes ago. The hunter who attacked Aido had been turned. I'll lay odds that the other hunter assassins were as well. We're dealing with a pureblood enemy, Diachi. Someone who apparently doesn't give a damn about keeping the treaty or the peace. Someone like that is not to be underestimated." It was against the conventions of the last peace treaty between hunters and vampires for hunters to be turned... although of course, it happened all the same. Usually the offenders covered their tracks or were already renegades like Shizuka Hio.

"If you don't believe me, then believe the words of one of your own. Naija Kish called Aido right before she was killed. He recorded the conversation. This warning about the attempt on your life comes from _her _not from me." Kaname had held his _pièce de résistance _until the last, knowing that Diachi wasn't going to believe a word he said... but there was a strong chance he'd have to believe what _Naija _had said. _Thank God _Aido had kept a back up copy of this.

Kaname held the phone towards the computer and clicked play on the video.

The image of a bloodied, worried looking young woman appeared on the screen. Kaname and Zero had already seen it once. Zero looked away, not caring to have to watch it again. He hadn't known the woman, but Aido obviously had and he felt badly for his friend's sake.

_"Hanabusa, I left you messages, I hope you got them. I hope you're still alive __**to**__ get them. Granger is dead, I think so is Embry, I don't know. I hope you and Huang escape. I'm uploading the information I told you about as we speak. We were wrong about the virus, 'Busa. I'm almost positive. It's a weapon, or it's supposed to be, but not targeted at __**us**__. It all ties back to An'swala. It took me too long to figure it out, I should have seen what he was doing sooner! Listen, I found out..." _

The woman on the screen jerked and looked over her shoulder as some sound that the microphone did not pick up must have come from somewhere behind her in the darkened lab. Naija turned back to the screen quickly with the look of one who knows their time has come. She was whispering even softer now, but Kaname had the volume cranked so Diachi could hear her over the phone.

_"Someone's here. 'Busa, please, if I don't make it out, you must give this information to Kaname-sama and you must tell him to warn Diachi-sama!" _Her voice had taken on an urgent, pleading tone. _"They're being set up, he's going to kill Diachi-sama and make it look like it's Kaname-sama's doing. He must be stopped! There's someone on the house staff, they have a-" _

There was a flash of light, the image warbled and distorted as Naija dove out of the frame. Then everything stuttered and went black.

The room was dead silent for what seemed a long time before Kaname finally spoke again, his tone softer now than before. "This is actually a video. I've already sent you a copy. As I said, this warning doesn't come from me. I am honoring her last wish in passing it on to you. She died while trying to get this to you. She wanted to serve you to the last. Don't let her death have been for nothing," he murmured persuasively.

There was more silence and Zero was starting to get a bit concerned when they heard the sound of faint, familiar words on the other side of the phone line. _"Hanabusa, I left you messages, I hope you got them..." _Diachi must have accessed the video Kaname sent him and was watching it for himself.

Pureblood and hunter sat in silence across the table, waiting while Diachi watched the whole message over again on his end of the connection.

Then again, there was more pregnant silence before Diachi finally spoke. His voice had changed. The arrogance and mistrust was gone and it sounded somehow both deeper and darker. "I don't understand any of this, Kaname. What does it mean? Who is behind this? Who would _dare?_" the steel in Diachi's tone indicated that obviously believed Kaname now, and he was both furious and concerned.

After hearing the message, Kaname wasn't so sure whether Kish had actually stumbled onto Nasser's involvement or simply onto the plot that he must have set in motion within Diachi's own ranks. There was no way to know who the _he _was that she had referred to nor what exactly it was that she had found tying back to An'swala. The message was too hurried and she'd not had time to tell all she knew, but from Diachi's reaction, it had been enough.

"I don't know who the would-be assassins are," Kaname said seriously. "But I _can _tell you who is behind it. There is only one person who wants to take me down badly enough to even dream of using something as drastic as your death to accomplish that end. That would be Nasser Ardon - who _happens_ to be in town, and therefore available for turning and binding hunters at need and perhaps also arranging assassinations."

"Who also _happens_ to be fighting you for control of Mission Oil... in An'swala. Because Orion already owns Trifecta Oil, a mere hop skip and a jump away across the border. Meaning Orion has been in that region for a long time," Diachi finished coldly, quickly drawing his own conclusions from what Kaname was telling him and from the vague references Naija had made in the recording. Nothing completely made sense yet, but it did form a rather terrible trail of coincidences that were too strong to overlook. Like any puzzle, it seemed obvious _now, _once the pieces had moved into a slightly closer semblance of order_. _His tone indicated that he did not appreciate being made to feel a blind fool any more than Kaname did.

Zero resisted the urge to grin slightly. There was nothing funny about this deadly serious situation, but... okay, maybe just a little. Nasser should watch his back. You did _not _make two proud purebloods look like idiots, especially in front of one another, without consequences.

"This is not going to go unchallenged. I will _not _be made a pawn in someone else's game like this," Diachi said with lethal quietness, confirming Zero's suspicions. The faint smile that twitched Kaname's lips said that he had also been counting on this reaction. He needed the other pureblood's help to pull off the plan that was beginning to form in his mind.

"Indeed not," Kaname agreed. "Listen, I have a idea..."

* * *

Seiji pressed his back against the wall in the hall, his heart pounding so hard he was almost afraid his brother might hear it. Except of course, Diachi seemed much too engrossed in his conversation. Whether accidentally or intentionally, Agni had left the door to Diachi's office ajar when he left and the sound seal was not completed. Diachi's phone was not turned down low enough to hide both ends of the conversation from another eavesdropping pureblood and of course Seiji had had no trouble hearing the recording of Naija's familiar voice which his brother had just played.

Diachi must have finally noticed the improperly closed door because about the time Kuran started talking about a plan, the door clicked fully shut, no doubt the result of a distracted mental push from Diachi. Abrupt quiet fell in the hall as the conversation within the study became cloaked in the shroud of charmed silence.

Seiji heard his own pounding heart even more clearly now and he quickly pulled away from the wall as if fearing that it might transmit the sound even through the sound dampeners. The device in his pocket suddenly felt like it was burning a hole through his clothing.

_Diachi knew. Kuran and that stupid bitch had blown everything. But... but what the __**hell? **__He'd had no idea Kuran was going to be implicated. Last thing he wanted was that kind of attention and scrutiny on the situation. Why the __**hell **__hadn't Agni told him about that? _

Seiji wasn't sure what to do. This changed everything. He couldn't possibly risk going through with the plan now, could he? Now that a warning had been raised, it would look way too bad if he walked away from an attack and his brother did not. Who knew what plans Kuran and his brother were making right this very minute? What they might be plotting to trap the culprits behind the assassination plan? Diachi was tiresomely clever and devious. He always seemed to know things he had no business knowing and he always won at games like chess, more things Seiji hated about him.

He told himself not to panic, but it wasn't easy. If this all went to hell, he was the one going to be blamed, he just knew it, he always got the blame... and he knew how Diachi dealt with those who betrayed him. Mother might or might not protect him, she'd been a bit... touchy with him lately. _Crap. This couldn't be happening. _This wasn't even _his_ plan! It had just been kind of dumped in his lap, this perfect opportunity that was too good to pass up. He may hate his brother most of the time, but he'd never seriously thought of killing him until it Agni had made it so devastatingly simple and attractive.

_Agni... who had apparently not been completely honest with him about anything and had almost gotten him in a shitload of trouble._ The young pureblood quickly stalked off in search of the servant in question. The worm had a lot of explaining to do. Agni had been with the Satos for as long as Seiji could remember and Diachi seemed to trust him for the most part. It had been a surprise that he was the one who came up with this plan to begin with and now Seiji was both worried and suspicious.

"Agni!" Seiji barked as he stormed into the kitchen and found the man doing whatever it was that servants ran around doing all the time.

"Yes, my lord?" the man's face was implacable but Seiji felt uncomfortably like those eyes were somehow laughing at him. There were no other servants about, but they could show up at any time, so Seiji jerked his head towards the door. "Come with me."

He stormed out and Agni followed. Seiji waited until they were alone in one of the sound proofed rooms on the upper floor and he slammed the door shut behind them to ensure their privacy.

Seiji paced back and forth, looking extremely agitated and jittery. "Diachi knows. _Freaking _Kuran warned him. He found out from _freaking _Kish. How the hell did she find out anyway?" he ran a hand through his hair.

"My lord, you must be strong," Agni cajoled solicitously. "Isn't that what you wanted to show him? That you are not the weakling he thinks you are? That you have the strength and the power to take what you want and not even he can stand in your way? All is not lost. We can still go through with the plan."

"Like hell!" Seiji shook his head angrily. "I'm not going to be live bait if Diachi goes on a witch hunt! Just what the did you get me involved in, Agni? You never mentioned Kuran in all of this and who the hell is this Nasser Ardon person?"

A flicker of annoyance flittered through the servant's eyes. _Of course, you assumed this was all about __**you. **_"You never asked. Does it matter who wants your brother's head, so long as you don't have to dirty your hands with it?"

Seiji slapped the man for his impudence and just because he was seriously scared and angry. "It matters if whoever you're working for decides I'm the next handy scapegoat if Kuran doesn't work out!" he seethed. "Forget it. I'm not getting involved in this."

Agni looked surprisingly unmoved by his master's anger. There was something unnerving about it. It reminded Seiji of the way his thralls behaved when his brother got angry with them for running around his house naked when Seiji visited with full retinue in tow. Diachi's anger couldn't touch or frighten them because it was only Seiji's approval that mattered. That was how Agni looked right now... as if he had only one goal, one purpose that had been set for him by someone and nothing else mattered. It was deeply unsettling.

"May I remind you, master_, _that you are already involved. To back out now would surely bring the exact disgrace you wish to avoid."

Seiji's eyes widened incredulously. Agni's tone was even and non-confrontational, but Seiji was already far too worked up to be reasonable. This man was _threatening _him? "You little worm! You don't dare talk to me that way!" Seiji slapped the servant harder, raking his claws down the man's face and throwing him back against the wall.

With shock, the young pureblood realized that blood and flesh was not the only thing under his fingernails. There was some kind of putty or plastic-like material there... and Agni's scratched face was peeling in a decidedly unnatural manner, revealing a different face below the incredibly well done makeup.

"Wh-what the hell?" Seiji was almost squeaking. "Who are you? You're not Agni!" He had already been murderously angry, now he was even more unsettled. This was all _bad, bad, bad_ and he needed to wipe the traces of this off the face of the earth before they could implicate him.

Seeing his own death in the freaked out pureblood's eyes, the vampire who had been pretending to be Agni merely smiled grimly. He regretted failing his master, but he was not afraid. To die for one's master was an honor.

A moment later, Seiji slashed out his throat and gutted him. The pureblood looked around wildly, trying to think. The fact that this _wasn't _Agni would work in his favor, but he had to make this look good. He urgently searched for and found the dead man's phone, wresting it from the servant's pocket. He threw it against the wall hard enough to shatter it into un-repairable pieces. He made sure the imposter was dead, shredding his heart in his chest but not removing it. He didn't want the body to dust immediately. He needed Diachi to see it. He tossed the hunter gadget in his pocket onto the floor beside the body, flung open the door and started shouting bloody murder.

The servants came running, naturally, and so too did Diachi after a minute or two. He looked annoyed until he smelled blood and saw Seiji spattered in crimson. For half a moment he was afraid his brother had been hurt, but he quickly realized no pure blood had been spilt here. Then he saw Agni... or rather, the man who clearly _wasn't _Agni.

"What happened?" He rounded on Seiji quickly, noting the smashed phone and the distinctly hunter-looking device on the ground.

"I-it wasn't Agni!" Seiji babbled slightly. He didn't have to fake his nervous jitters, they were quite real. "He was imposter! I heard him talking on his phone, telling someone that our visit to mother had been pushed back and to keep waiting. It sounded like they were plotting an ambush, I think he wanted to hurt us!"

Diachi took all this in with an implacable expression. "And?"

"And... and I confronted him, and he attacked me with that thing," he gestured at the object on the floor. "And I killed him."

Diachi stood silently looking at the body for a long moment. The real Agni must be dead. Who knew when the imposter had taken his place? Naija's words came back to him _"__There's someone on the house staff..." _Was this what she had meant?

"You should not have killed him, it would have been more beneficial to have him alive for questioning," Diachi said with a frown.

"Well _excuse _me for defending myself and keeping us from possibly getting _killed_," Seiji huffed. "I'm fine, by the way, in case you _care._"

Diachi stared into space for a moment, not entirely wanting to believe what his gut told him to be true. There was something much too neat about all this. Seiji's timely involvement, Seiji's reluctance to leave for mother's before him, the fact that all this happened just minutes after he'd been warned of an assassination plot, while his door had been ajar... there were too many coincidences and Seiji stank of fear. Diachi knew his brother too well and Seiji never had had much of a poker face.

Diachi sighed, feeling a massive headache coming on. He was not a complete fool, even if recent events had made him feel that way. He was aware that his brother might have reason to want him dead, but he judged Seiji's ability to pull something like that off by himself as very low. He'd probably spend several days coming up with grand, intricate plots and then get bored with the notion and go do something else. That was the way his brother was. He was an idiot, but he wasn't usually a dangerous one. Hell, some days he thought he might welcome it if Seiji showed enough initiative to actually get off his butt and seriously attempt something, even if it _was_ at cross-purposes with him.

If Seiji was involved, he had doubtless been a puppet as much as Diachi had. They were all being played. That wasn't an excuse, but the fact was that what he might know and what he could prove were two different things. As matters stood, Diachi had no way to _prove _that his brother had been party to any of this. If he could, he would not hesitate to nail Seiji's lazy ass to the wall, no matter how much of a pawn he might have been. But with nothing other than suspicion, it wasn't worth the effort of leveling the accusation. Mother would just throw a fit and pull Seiji protectively under her figurative skirts until things blew over, refusing to believe that her baby was capable of something that atrocious. Really, Seiji should stop being so derisive towards her, he had no idea how often her presence had kept Diachi from committing fratricide.

"I don't suppose you know where this supposed ambush was going to take place?" Diachi asked coolly and Seiji shifted uncomfortably.

"No, why would I know that?" he asked defensively.

Diachi smiled faintly. "No reason. I thought perhaps you might have... _overheard it_, or something." He turned towards the servants gathered about, gawking. "Well, don't just stand there. Clean this up. And send a squad to scour the woods along the Tandor highway. That's the most isolated part of the trip, it would be the best place for an ambush. Bring back anyone suspicious you might find." Diachi doubted they would actually be able to find anyone, but it was worth a try. "Oh... and somebody call mother and tell her there's been an attempt on Seiji's life. He's fine and will be there soon, but I must stay behind to clean up. Tell her he's going to need somewhere secure to stay for a while until I'm sure it's _safe _again. I'm sure she'll take _good _care of him."

He leveled a meaningful look at his brother who all but moaned in frustration and protest. Mother was literally not going to let him out of her sight for months after getting a message like that. Which, Diachi thought, ought to keep the brat out of trouble and out of his hair for at least a little while. He got a certain grim satisfaction out of knowing that mother would undoubtedly force Seiji to stay with her at the summer house where she could protect him personally, which meant no thralls, no retinue, endless exposure to their mother's draconian etiquette protocols and the kind of quiet, secluded life that Seiji hated.

"Enjoy your trip, brother," Diachi said with cool amusement before turning on his heel and walking away. "You might want to clean up first."

* * *

"My apologies, there was something urgent that required my attention," Diachi apologized to Kaname when he got back on the phone in his study. "Apparently, my brother caught and killed someone in the process of setting up an ambush for me."

"Seiji did?" the incredulity in Kaname's voice on the other end of the line was politely veiled, but discernable.

"Indeed. Who would have thought?" Diachi replied dryly.

"I see..." Kaname hesitated. "I'm glad to hear that. It's very... convenient."

"Yes," Diachi said simply, his tone speaking volumes that he would never voice more clearly. "Wasn't it? In any case, the situation has been neutralized for the moment, although I shall remain on my guard for any additional attempts."

"That's wise," Kaname agreed, letting the previous matter go. Diachi's family was his problem, it was not Kaname's place to interfere or offer commentary and he knew neither would be welcome or wise. Since Diachi had not yet brought anyone else into their previous problems, he was probably fairly safe for the moment. Nasser needed he and Kaname publicly at one another's throats before another assassination attempt would make sense.

Diachi paused for a moment. "Your idea is crazy, but it presents little risk on my side of thing, so I see no objections to it. I wonder though... do you trust me to follow through if by some chance things should go according to plan?"

Back in the libratory basement, Kaname and Zero exchanged looks. Zero had actually been wondering the same thing, but he hadn't said anything yet.

"I trust you to want to hurt the bastard who played you for a fool, killed your people on your turf and tried to have _you_ killed more than you want to hurt me, and more than the possible monetary compensation that might be offered," Kaname said carefully but honestly. "So yes, I trust you."

Diachi actually chuckled softly, seeming to approve of the answer. "Very well then, let us consider the matter settled."

* * *

Zero exited the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist and one on his head as he scrubbed his mussed silver hair dry, having washed away the last traces of Aido's blood. He found Kaname waiting for him in his bedroom. The pureblood was sitting on the edge of his bed, also showered and dressed in clean clothes.

Kaname offered a wry smile as Zero merely looked at him, raised his eyebrows, and finished drying his hair.

"Sorry," the pureblood said, not sounding very sorry at all as he watched water droplets run down his lover's body appreciatively. "I have builders coming, they'll be repairing my rooms so I'll be out of your hair soon."

Zero shrugged. He did like his space, and wouldn't want to co-habitat this closely indefinitely, but he found he really didn't mind it at all in the short term. He was so used to being around Kaname that it no longer felt as if the vampire was underfoot, even if he _did_ always seem to show up quickly every time he got remotely naked. "No problem. How's Aido?"

"Resting comfortably in one of the guest rooms. The doctor is cautiously optimistic. He's still unconscious and he's going to need to stay that way for some time in order to mend, but once the hunter poison works its way out of his system he will be out of danger. Kain and Ruka have offered to take turns giving him infusions until then if necessary, so I'm sure he will be all right."

"Good." A small smile played about Zero's lips as he pulled open a drawer and grabbed some clothing. The three cousins shared a strong bond. Aido was lucky to have family like that. Zero's gaze drifted to Kaname as he pulled a t-shirt on over his head. The hunter knew he was lucky too.

"Zero..." Kaname's tone had turned more serious and a little hesitant. "I need to talk to you about the plan. I want to go over the whole thing with you and get your input." The pureblood was looking down at his hands. He'd told Diachi some of it, but only the little piece that he needed to know in order to play his part. It was always safer if people only knew exactly as much as they needed to know and nothing more. It was better to hide the whole picture until the end so that it could not fall into the wrong hands. Zero was the only person who would get to hear the whole thing up front. He was the only person Kaname trusted that much. Normally, Kaname never asked for advice, but there was nothing normal about this situation. If things went according to plan, Zero was going to need to play a very central role... one in which Kaname was very loathe to cast him.

"I need your help, but I haven't any right to ask you to do what it is I have in mind," he admitted.

Zero frowned as he pulled on underwear and jeans. "Don't be stupid, of course you do. I _want _to help, you know that." _Want _was an understatement. Zero was itching to take action and he was somewhat concerned that this over-protective lover would try to shield him from being involved. "Don't forget that this bastard has been screwing with my life too," he added seriously. _I want a piece of him just as badly as you do. _

"I know you do," Kaname agreed. "But hear me out before you say yes. It would be very, very dangerous." The pureblood's voice was soft and troubled. He wouldn't even mention it to Zero if he didn't think he could make it work without a _totally_ unreasonable level of risk to the hunter... but the risk was still incredibly high and there was no way Zero _wouldn't _get hurt. He'd tried for hours to come up with another solution, another move that could replace this one... but there wasn't one.

Kaname would have done it himself, except that would totally defeat the point and make it useless. Zero was the only one who _could _do this, both because of who and what he was and because of what Nasser already knew about him. Much like the figurative chess queen that Kaname had once mentally compared him too, Zero was the only piece in play who could reach this particular corner of the board. He was also the only one who would have a chance of surviving. _But... _

Kaname frowned, looking down at his hands again. He couldn't believe he was even talking to Zero about it. He wouldn't if he'd had any choice... but he didn't have a choice. Everything hinged on this and he hated it.

"Hey, danger is my middle name," Zero said lightly as he pulled on a long sleeved tee over the first. He turned to face Kaname and ran his fingers through the pureblood's dark, damp curls. "You do remember what it is I do for a living, right? Tell me what you have in mind."

"All right," Kaname said slowly, leaning into Zero's touch slightly, long fingers brushing the back of his lover's hand. "I will tell you, but you don't _have _to do it. We can always find another way," he lied. If Zero thought it had a chance, then okay. If not, Kaname would rather end up having to let Nasser best him and suffer whatever consequences that might entail before he forced Zero into something like this.

"Sure," Zero smiled wryly as he sat down on the edge of the bed, one knee curled up under him so he could face Kaname. He could read the lie a mile away. Kaname wouldn't be suggesting a dangerous plan to him if it _wasn't _actually the only one he could come up with. Zero knew him better than that. "So in this great hypothetical maybe, what is it that I would need to do?"

Kaname held his gaze seriously. "You would need to attempt to kill Nasser Ardon. You would need you to fail. And you would need to be captured."

Zero felt his stomach drop out like the first moments of the downward plunge on a rollercoaster. _That was suicide. _But... no, it couldn't be. Because Kaname would not ask him to do something that was 100% certain to get him killed, he knew contained his first reaction. He knew if he spoke his mind at this moment, Kaname would withdraw the idea entirely and refuse to discuss it further. He needed to know more. He was aware of how important this must be for Kaname to even float a suggestion like that.

"Oh, I see. Is that _all_?" he said ruefully, although a faint scratch had entered his tone that he couldn't completely hide. Actually, the first bit of the idea sounded pretty good, it was the rest of it that he wasn't crazy about. "Explain to me the part where I _don't _get killed in the process?"

Kaname felt sure Zero thought he was insane. Maybe he was. "It's a matter of knowing your enemy and how he will react," Kaname said softly. "Here's the way it would work..."


	30. Spreading Ripples

_A/N: I had a lot of issues with writer's block trying to get this chapter done, I'm sorry if that shows. The chapter has to cover what's happening in a number of different places at the same time and I'm not sure I do it well, so sorry about that. Hopefully it doesn't suck too badly although I fear it really does. *sighs* Just bear with me on this one and I will try to do better next time, promise. :P _

**Chapter Thirty: "****Spreading Ripples****"**

Yagari strode down the corridor at a brisk clip, his worn boots surprisingly quiet on the stone floor. In the wake of the information he had received from Zero about the rouge hunters, a series of emergency response meetings had been called at HQ in order to sort things out and initiate further investigation. The turning and enslavement of fellow hunters was never taken lightly. It was a serious breach of the peace treaty. The fact that official hunter communications had also been compromised was further cause for concern.

The long hallway was checkered with closed doors that were usually open and Yagari's quiet steps echoed more than normal in the deserted passageway. This corridor was in the heart of the facility and there was usually a lot more activity and traffic flowing through here at this time of the day. The threat level had been raised; emergency protocols were in place and most non-essential personnel had been cleared from the facility. Yagari thought that was a little drastic, considering there was no evidence that any kind of direct attack was in fact eminent, but protocol was protocol. Besides, it wasn't only a matter of keeping people safe, it was a matter of tightening down on the information flow and lessening the risk of leaks and infiltration.

_Nothing helps a bad situation like a healthy dose of mistrust and paranoia, right? _Yagari knew it was an uncharitable thought, but the master hunter's mood was dark. He was in a rage over what had been done to their comrades, of course, but the attitude of the president and the other few officials who had been present at the highly classified meeting just now also nettled him. He had been very careful to make it clear that Zero had merely been a victim and an intended scapegoat in this whole affair and that was the extent of his involvement. Those stubborn blockheads, however, did not seem inclined to believe him.

_Were they not all ex-humans? Was it not quite possible that Kiriyu was on their side and the staged attack was a feint? _

That kind of thinking made Yagari want to put a fist through something. The president's overly pretty face would be nice, but a wall would do. He knew very well that Zero had not faked his own attack, but he also knew that Zero hadn't told him everything on the phone earlier either. There were too many ends that didn't quite connect. He just bet that Kuran knew a lot more about this then he was letting on and that frustrated him even more.

The president had not been shy about voicing the suspicion that Kuran might in fact be the root of this problem. That shouldn't bother Yagari. He should be more than willing to consider that possibility, because it was a logical one. If you looked at the surface of things, Kuran looked guilty as sin.

_"He's already shown an unhealthy interest getting his claws into the hunter world. Who knows how much information he's gotten about us from young Kiriyu by now?" the president's voice was calm and assessing. _

_"Zero isn't a traitor. He doesn't tell Kuran squat if he's not supposed to," Yagari defended, bristling against the implication that his apprentice was some kind of double agent. "Which you know damn well, otherwise you'd never have given permission for his training to continue." _

_The president's smile was cool and predatory. Yagari had seen vampires smile like that and he didn't like it. He did not trust this man. He believed in the hunter system with all his heart... but that did not mean he had to like or trust its current leadership. _

_"We __**believe **__that we can get at least as much out of him about Kuran's doings as he is getting out of us," the president said smoothly. "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, Yagari. It's a maxim you would do well to remember. If you cannot eliminate a viper, then he must be watched. __**That **__is your task, do not let sentiment make you think otherwise. If you have been in doubt, then let me speak clearly now: Kiriyu is one of _them_. He is a problem we cannot eliminate because of Kuran's involvement, so he must be made useful instead. However if he, or Kuran, become a threat to us or to the peace... then measures will have to be taken." The president's gaze was piercing. _

_"I am not saying that time has come. There is still too much unknown about all this and we must investigate," he clarified, hard eyes still locked firmly on Yagari. "But someday it __**will**__ come and when it does, I expect you to remember where it is that your duty and your loyalties lie, Toga Yagari. I should not like to think that Kuran was successfully using that boy to cloud your judgment and make your commitment uncertain. Do not underestimate the cleverness of these beasts." _

Yagari's expression was heavy as a thundercloud as the conversation replayed in his mind. The president had been right and yet wrong at the same time and that was the most maddening part of all. Yagari knew he was right about vampires and purebloods. They were damn clever beasts, and it would normally have been completely logical to assume that Kaname was doing everything they said and more. It _would _be a brilliant play to use Zero against him in that way, knowing his past with the boy. But... but the president and those other idiots... they didn't _know. _They didn't _know _Zero like Yagari did. Come to that, they didn't know Kuran like he did either. They hadn't seen how madly, almost irritatingly in love those two were.

The cynical part of his mind tried to tell him it could still be an act, a very, very clever one... but he just couldn't accept that. He could not start doubting his instincts or his own senses, and all of those told him he was right and the Association was wrong. Not that there was a damn thing he could do about it, except to continue on as if nothing had changed. In a way, it hadn't. He'd already suspected the Association's motives for allowing Zero's training. Having them confirmed made him angry, but it was not a great shock. Just... a disappointment. He also knew the Association was starting to doubt him because he repeatedly stuck up for Zero. Someday it might be trouble, but not yet, hopefully.

Lost in these thoughts, Yagari was not quite as aware of his surroundings as he normally would have been. So when a door on his left was suddenly tugged open the master hunter was almost knocked sprawling as someone stepped hurriedly out into the hall, bowling directly into him. Yagari staggered sideways, but his honed reflexes let him regain his balance and keep his feet. The young man who had run into him wasn't so lucky. The youth ended up sprawled on his backside back inside the room he'd been trying to exit. A jumbled sprawl of data disks spread around him on the floor in a scattered halo, apparently having spilled from the now overturned box which he had been carrying.

"Oh! M-Master Yagari, I'm so sorry!" the boy stammered in embarrassment, his long, floppy brown hair falling in his face and brushing his swiftly flushing cheeks as he tried to catch his breath, scramble to his knees and start scooping up the fallen disks all at the same time.

Yagari's annoyed scowl turned into a more resigned and long suffering frown as he recognized the youth. "Kio... don't you know better than to burst through doorways like that? Watch where you're going kid, where's the fire?"

"I'm sorry," the teen responded again, still hastily scooping up the fallen disks and dumping them back in the box. He was naturally slender although years of training had filled him out to a certain extent. You could tell he was at that awkward adolescent stage though, where his body seemed to be growing faster than he could entirely keep up with. "Sensei is working down in monitoring and they want to check all incoming and outgoing communication for the past month. He sent me to collect the archives but everybody's so busy and the normal office was closed for the meeting and there's only one tech on duty here and he couldn't make me a master copy so I had to back up the dailies and it took a really long time and Sensei is going to be angry and..."

"Okay, okay, don't worry about it..." Yagari halted the rapid, overwhelming flow of speech with a dismissive gesture. He realized they were now standing inside the entry to one of the facility's auxiliary data processing centers. Across the room, the lone tech that Kio had mentioned was looking over at them quizzically from his workstation. Yagari gave him a wave to let him know everything was fine and with a sigh, he stooped to one knee to help pick up the fallen objects.

Kio was a good kid but it seemed like he was almost always messing up, and it didn't help that he seemed terrified of his teacher half the time, which just led him to make more mistakes. His sensei was stern and the kid was high strung, it wasn't a great combination. Of course, Yagari privately thought it would be much better if Haru trained Kio to work in one of the technology related fields at which he was quite adept and to which he was much more suited, rather than insisting on trying to make a field agent out of the boy. But Kio was not his student and it wasn't his place to stick his nose into their business.

"Master Yagari... is Zero all right?" Kio asked after a moment, once the disks were all collected. "Kaito told me what happened. What... what they did to him." He rose back to his feet and Yagari could see that the concern and the hint of outrage on the young face was genuine. Since he'd only just gotten done informing the administration that Zero's attackers had in fact been rogues, there was no way that information could have spread yet and Yagari realized that Kio was still under the impression that Zero had been attacked by fellow hunters. Most people wouldn't have even been aware of that yet, save for those that Yagari had told in the course of looking into the matter. One of those people was Kaito Takamiya, who had also been Yagari's student for a time. Kaito was older than Zero, but he had trained with the Kiriyu twins when they were younger.

Kaito had yet to take an apprentice of his own, but like many young hunters his age he was easing into the eventual teaching role expected of him by providing extra tutoring for students who were already training under a different sensei, such as Kio. Kaito was not a gossip, but since Kio also knew Zero, it wasn't too surprising that he'd passed the information on.

"He'll be fine," Yagari assured with a shrug.

"I'm glad," Kio said as he edged towards the door, holding the box in front of him. Zero had been pretty forgiving towards him after the whole _accidentally-getting-shot_ incident a while back and Kio knew all too well what it was to feel like you did not belong. He was in a hurry to be on his way again, but he paused one moment longer to fix Yagari with an earnest look. "Please tell him... tell him I'm sorry. Tell him not everybody feels like that, okay?"

Kio hurried off and Yagari watched him go, feeling a little fonder of the klutzy youth for some reason. He shook his head and started to leave, only to hear a tell-tale crunch beneath his boot. Quickly removing his foot he found that he had stepped on one of the small data disks that they had obviously missed. _Oops. _

He crouched again and picked up the cracked disk. _Well, crap. That probably wasn't good... _

Only because he was crouching there in the doorway and only because he happened to glance up and into the room before he rose... did he see it.

Yagari froze.

There was something small and metallic protruding from a tangle of cords under the nearby desk. That wasn't too unusual, but... the thing just looked _weird. _It was spidery, almost plant-like, but definitely some kind of alloy. From this angle Yagari could just see that it was actually _piercing_ the cords, its silver roots having punctured the plastic casing around the wires. He could think of no good reason for such an apparently destructive device and it did not look like it belonged. Still... they _were_ in a room packed with technological do-dah...

Yagari frowned, rising slowly. He walked casually over to the tech. This wasn't his expertise, he needed someone who knew about such things, but if he was right, he also did not want to say too much.

"Hey, sorry about the disk," he said, flipping the damaged item to the tech. The man looked slightly annoyed, but more curious than anything else as Yagari leaned over his desk and scratched a silent message on a pad of paper. To his credit, the man read the message and complied without questions.

"Don't worry about it, it's just a copy," he said, keeping up the normalcy of the exchange while he rose out of his seat and the two of them went back to where Yagari had first seen the device. They both crouched, Yagari pointed and the pale, alarmed look that came across the tech's face told the hunter everything he needed to know.

The tech moved as if to crawl under the desk and remove the thing, but Yagari shook his head. Taking the man's arm, he pulled him silently out into the hall. This was _not _good, but they needed to assess the situation before taking action. They need to know just how bad this possibly was. _Holy hell... _

* * *

"Headquarters was _bugged?_" Zero echoed Yagari's shock as the other hunter paced up and down the length of Night Haven's spacious living room. Zero perched on one of the stools by the mini-bar while Kaname sat with his usual regal grace at the end of the nearby divan.

Yagari gave a tense nod. "In a very literal sense of the word. We found three listening devices in key locations and two data-miners tapped into terminal hubs. Freaky things too, some kind of cybernetic crap, the techs haven't seen anything like them. They think the damn things might have actually _crawled _in on their own."

"It is a bold move, but not entirely surprising," Kaname opined, apparently the only one present who felt that way.

"_Not entirely surprising?_" Yagari returned irritably, rounding on the pureblood with a frown. "Like hell it's not. You do realize how tight security is around HQ? We take precautions against shit like that, a lot of them, which I'm not about to tell _you_," he added parenthetically, stabbing his thumb in the vampire's direction. "But trust me, it wouldn't be easy to do, nor too keep hidden for any length of time." The hunter looked a bit drawn, but then, it _was _the wee hours of the morning for him, and recent events seemed to be conspiring against him getting much rest. He was used to that, but it didn't mean he liked it. He also seemed to be in a foul mood for other, private reasons.

"Of course not," Kaname agreed dismissively, waving his hand as if Yagari was totally missing the point. "No doubt that's why they are... _freaky_... as you so descriptively put it. Doubtless they were designed specifically to circumvent your methods of detection."

Yagari's gaze was cool as they held the pureblood. "You know who put them there."

Kaname nodded. "It wasn't me, so you can stop looking at me like that, but yes, I am reasonably certain I know who did." Yagari's increased level of suspicion and agitation was telling Kaname a lot about how things at the Association were going, which were probably _not _in any good directions for he and Zero.

"Nasser?" Zero guessed, not having to stretch too hard for that one given the current circumstances.

Kaname nodded. "We were assuming that the turned hunters sent you those phony dispatch orders, but since untamed vampires are sure to have been noticed around headquarters and those men were also presumed missing, is it not quite possible that those data-miners Yagari mentioned could have done the job, if they are able to send data through the network as well as receive it? Perhaps that's how those original hunters were set up and trapped to begin with as well... we can only speculate at this point. In any case, it would be quite beneficial for him to have both fingers and ears inside the Association since he intended to make such use of them in his plans."

Zero shook his head, continually surprised at the sheer level of planning and staging that must have gone into all of this. Then again though, considering what he and Kaname were now planning... it wasn't that surprising at all. He frowned slightly. It was fortuitous that Yagari was here, since he needed to discuss the plan with him anyway, but he was more than a little leery of the elder hunter's reaction.

"Have the bugs been removed?" he inquired instead, putting _that_ conversation off a little longer.

Yagari shook his head. "No. Everyone's being careful not to let on that they've been discovered just yet. The techs want to try and back-trace the signal they're sending and see if they can figure out who's on the receiving end. If whoever's listening in knows they've been caught, they'll just shut it all down and it becomes that much harder to trace."

Kaname nodded approvingly. "I very much doubt you'll get anywhere tracing it, but it was a wise move. We can use that."

Yagari, who was obviously still in a mood, gave the pureblood a look. "Oh? _We _can, can we? Does that mean you're actually going to tell me what the hell is really going on and what you're up to?"

Zero sighed, recognizing his master's current disposition and knowing that he'd better be the one to lay things out. Yagari was not in a vampire-friendly state of mind right now and having Kaname explain was only going to keep setting him off. "Yes, of course," he said quietly. "And I'm pretty sure I know what Kaname is thinking..."

"Have you lost your freaking mind?" Yagari stared at Zero incredulously.

Zero shrugged. "Possibly," he admitted. "But I think we've got a shot."

"A shot at getting killed!" Yagari rubbed the back of his neck, shaking his head and frowning in definite concern and consternation.

"A possibility we have to be ready to accept each time we go out into the night, isn't that what you've always said, Sensei?" Zero pointed out.

Yagari glowered, not liking having his own words used against him in this context. "This is different, Zero, and you know it."

Kaname had kept silent, simply sitting on the couch and listening to Zero lay things out for his teacher. Honestly, he was impressed. He would not have pegged diplomacy as one of Zero's skills... well... _ever _really, but his lover had shown remarkable aplomb and discernment in judging how much to tell Yagari and how much to carefully omit so as not to absolutely _convince _his teacher that he was insane or had a death wish.

"Does that mean you're not going to help?" Zero asked quietly. This was hard for him, Kaname could see that too. Despite how close the two hunters had become over the past few years, Zero was still incredibly careful of what he considered to be Yagari's fragile trust in him, and very hesitant to wrinkle that trust or tread too heavily on their relationship.

Yagari let his breath out and shoved his hat back on his head. "I didn't say that," he countered after a moment. "I'll be damned if I let you do something so stupid without back up."

Zero gave a small, relieved smile.

"I believe that what you have discovered at the Association may actually be beneficial to us in this endeavor," Kaname spoke up for the first time since Zero had started explaining the plan. "We now know that our enemy has been listening in, so he knows that you all are aware of the issue with the rouges. He is probably also aware then, of the opinions that the Association no doubt holds regarding my culpability in this?" he asked mildly.

Zero frowned in surprise, gaze darting to Kaname and then back to Yagari. _Surely, they didn't think... _but Yagari's averted gaze said that they did. "They can't possibly believe that-"

"Of course they do, Zero," Yagari cut him off. The elder hunter scowled and shrugged, hands pushing into his pockets. He didn't like the way Kuran was able to so easily deduce things like that, but he wasn't going to lie about it. "He's the handiest suspect at the moment, what do you expect?" What Yagari was _not _going to repeat was what they had said about Zero. "There wasn't a heck of a lot I could counter with, considering you told me bupkis about all this other crap I'm finding out now."

Zero looked upset but Kaname appeared unruffled. "We did not know the true picture ourselves at the time, and given who we now know was listening in, it is a rather good thing you _didn't _have more to tell them. At any rate, I would be surprised if they did _not _suspect me," he said dismissively. "That is Nasser's goal after all. In this case, however, we have a golden opportunity to use that very perception against our adversary." There was a pleased glitter in Kaname's dark eyes which mollified Zero a little and made Yagari both curious and wary.

"We are going to need to involve a few other hunters," the pureblood added. "No doubt, Nasser is quite aware that you are Zero's teacher. We need some slightly more neutral faces to play the supporting role in our little drama, but they need to be people you trust. They need to be... people we can trust with Zero's life." Kaname's last words were hushed and Yagari appeared to get the gravity of them, despite his unhappiness with the situation as a whole.

Yagari didn't like this setup one bit, but he had to admit that the madness made sense once you got down to the base of it. If Kaname was right about who was behind the bugs – and the damn pureblood usually was right about such things – this Ardon creep had used the Association as a pawn in his game and had egregiously broken the treaty by willfully turning and binding hunters to serve him.

Sadly, Yagari doubted he could ever get the president or other Association leaders to believe him without proof and the only proof they had was coming from their prime suspect. That wouldn't go over well, they already thought his judgment was in question when it came to Kuran. In the same breath, even if they did believe him, there wasn't much they could do. They couldn't take action against either Kaname or Nasser unless one of them made a definitive and provable move against them. Suspicion was not enough to confront a pureblood. If it was, the Association would have done something about Kaname long ago.

That Ardon bastard couldn't be allowed to get away completely scot-free, though. Even if it was Kaname striking back at Nasser rather than the hunters directly, Yagari knew that something had to be done, or the blood sucker would think he could do this kind of thing again whenever he pleased.

Yagari was aware that the internal balance held among the world's small remaining pureblood population was important. As low as his opinion of vampires was in general, he was smart enough to realize that letting that scale tip too far away from Kaname's favor was not going to be good for anyone. It was choosing the lesser of two evils, and there were plenty who would not agree with him, but Yagari knew that Kuran retaining the power and standing he had among vampires ultimately made the world a safer place for humans than if others with a less tolerant minded views were to start exerting a greater amount of influence.

He just hoped this didn't end up costing Zero too dearly. If he'd thought for a moment that Kaname was just using Zero and didn't care whether he made it out or not, he would never have gone along, but he knew them too well for that by now.

Yagari was beginning to understand the way in which Kaname intended to use both the bugs and the Association's own stubborn suspicions as part of his plan, and a very, very small part of him couldn't help finding the notion just a little satisfying after how angry the president had made him earlier. He nodded slowly. "I understand, and I know a couple people who will serve."

* * *

Graceful, elegant fingers lifted the phone. Nasser shook his long, dark hair out of the way in an unconscious, habitual movement before pressing the receiver to his ear. He laid aside the complex number puzzle he had been diverting himself with before being interrupted and gave his full attention to the caller, and to an entirely different kind of puzzle.

"Sato-san, it's nice to hear from you. It's a pleasure I was not expecting," he greeted amiably, giving away nothing about just _how _unexpected this call was. Obviously, something had not gone according to plan, or the other pureblood would already be dead. "I do not believe we've spoken since... ah, well, it's been a while," he said carelessly. Several centuries, actually since the last time the two pureblood's paths had crossed in passing at a society event. Nasser recalled that perfectly well, but he chose to affect an air of disinterest. "To what do I owe the honor?"

"It came to my attention that your business affairs brought you to this part of the world," Diachi said with equal casualness. "Although I fear this is not a social call, but rather a warning."

"Oh, really? Now you have my interest piqued. A warning about what, pray tell?" Nasser's tone was light.

"Nothing very interesting or important I fear," Diachi managed to sound vaguely bored. "I wouldn't have troubled you with it personally except that you were in the area and I thought you should know immediately. My brother and I recently thwarted a rather ill conceived attempt on our lives. The traitor was impersonating someone within our household. As I said, it was a small matter, easily dealt with, but among the imposters belongings we found certain items that indicate he may have been part of a larger, subversive group who wish to stir up tension between different Syndeos in order to cause dissention and create certain opportunities for themselves. There was some indication that there may be such plants within several other Syndeos, including your own."

Nasser's smile was cold. _Oh, so that's how Diachi was going to play this? Interesting... _"I see. Well it was good of you to warn me. Have you any idea who could be behind such a thing?"

There was a pause before Diachi spoke again, although his tone was still off-handed. "No, not yet, although we are looking into the matter. If I find out more I shall be sure to let you know. I'm sure there's little to worry about. The whole idea is ludicrous, but I did think you should be informed."

"Thank you, I shall take your warning under advisement. Have a good night then, Sato-san."

Diachi returned the pleasantry and Nasser hung up the phone. Immediately, he clapped his hands to summon the servant who was on duty outside his chambers. "Rin, Contact Anais, tell her I want a report on the situation with the Satos, immediately," he ordered. The man named Rin bowed in obedience. He did not leave the room, but rather, his head dropped to his chest and he seemed to fall into a kind of stupor.

Nasser, who was perfectly aware of what was happening, paid him no further mind. He frowned and paced the length of the room in thought. He would soon get full details on what had or hadn't happened to the north, but he could already warrant a fair guess. That idiot Seiji had botched things. He'd probably panicked at the last moment and decided to suck up to either his brother or mother by "uncovering" the plan instead of following through with it. It was disappointing, but it wasn't _too _great a surprise. Using Seiji had always been a weak point in his plan. The insufferable brat was quite spineless and useless.

Diachi calling him... _that_ had been a trifle unexpected, but he felt he had a pretty good idea why he had done so. That rubbish about subversive elements trying to provoke tension between Syndeos was a good, plausible touch, but not a very bright or convincing one - much what he would expect from the elder Sato.

Naturally, _he_ knew that the documents his assassin had been carrying were carefully slanted to implicate Kaname as the instigator behind the attack. He had foreseen the possibility of the assassination attempt failing or Seiji proving unreliable and made sure that Kaname would be damned either way. After all, Seiji hadn't known who was behind the idea. Probably hadn't wanted to know either, the fool.

Nasser had also carefully crafted the fake documents so that it would look as if Kaname was trying to do the same thing to himself as well. It was meant to give him legitimate cause to become involved in the situation after it went down. This was undoubtedly the thread that Diachi had picked up upon, but the call was a bit more unexpected.

The fact that Diachi was covering up Kaname's involvement with that uninspired cover story... that was very interesting. It meant he was clearly not going to publicly go after Kaname for his supposed betrayal, despite all the evidence he had at hand. There were several possible reasons why, but Nasser would reserve judgment until he got a report from Anais, one of his spies whose current task was to observe and report on the Satos.

Whatever Diachi's reasons, the fact that he'd bothered to contact Nasser at all was a clear indication that the other pureblood was hedging his bets. Given the evasive way he'd put off naming any possibly responsible parties while still hinting that he might eventually know led Nasser to suspect that he was laying groundwork. If things did not work out, Diachi could always conveniently discover "new" evidence that allowed him to implicate Kaname and pull in another pureblood to boot. Not too uninspired a move, really, even if somewhat predictable.

Rin's head came back up, his glassy eyes refocusing to take in the room. His posture and body language had changed. It was more sensual now and catlike as he turned, surveying the room until he found the corner into which his pureblood master's pacing had carried him.

"Report," Nasser commanded simply. "What happened with the Satos?" He knew that it was no longer Rin he was speaking to, but Anais, inhabiting her lover's mind. He had cultivated them and many others like them for exactly this purpose. Although they could never match the mental powers of a pureblood, some nobles who were gifted in various forms of telepathy could touch other minds from far away. Through experimentation, Nasser had found that if you enhanced that sensitivity through drugs and added the increased connectivity of a blood bond, then with the proper training, such vampires could in fact switch bodies with their bondmates for a certain length of time, even across great distances. This was a very useful quality in spies since it eliminated the need for any external means of communication and made their reports impossible to intercept. He had been breeding and pairing these kind of operatives for many generations and had it down to an art.

Anais sank respectfully to one knee, head bowing. "My lord, the agent inside the Sato household has been taken out. The younger Sato killed him. I have not yet fully ascertained why, but I believe he feared discovery and wished to escape blame."

Nasser nodded dismissively, he had already guessed that. "What of Kuran? Has there been any contact between he and Diachi during all this?"

"Yes, my lord. They have spoken several times. He was very upset with Kuran-sama over the death of the scientist, as you predicted. Before he was killed, the agent who was impersonating Agni had communicated to me that Diachi-sama issued an ultimatum to Kuran-sama, demanding that he turn over his protégé for the crimes. Kuran was unwilling. I believe they spoke again after the agent was killed, and the last communication I intercepted between them indicated that Kuran has changed his mind and acceded to the demand."

_Oh, so that's it... _Nasser mulled that information over thoughtfully. It didn't surprise him that Diachi had offered Kaname a way out initially, even after his little mongrel daughter's death. Diachi was not terribly clever, but he was pragmatic and calculating. He had obviously chosen a demand that he knew would hurt Kuran, but he was apparently unwilling to completely discount Kaname's possible profitability to him as a continued ally.

The smart move for Kaname, of course, would have been to sacrifice the pawn, but Nasser was not surprised that he had resisted. Disappointed, but not surprised. Kaname had issues giving up his precious little playing pieces, he always had. Nasser almost found it tedious. He really needed to break him of that habit and teach him how open he left himself due to that weakness. Of course, in this case Diachi was supposed to have been dead before it really mattered. The fact that that had _not _happened, made things more interesting.

It _was_ a little surprising that Diachi had kept his previous offer on the table after the apparent attempt on his life. These were dark, and dangerous waters now and it showed a certain ruthless cleverness that Nasser had not expected the other pureblood to exhibit. Kuran's sudden change of heart indicated that the Diachi was probably pressuring him pretty heavily. At this stage Kaname really had no choice but to let his knight be taken, did he? Nasser rather liked that thought, although he was concerned about the instability of the new situation that was forming.

_Hmm..._ He needed to reassess slightly. Diachi wasn't quite as dull and predictable as Nasser had thought. He hadn't expected the other vampire to have the balls to use the cards he now held in order to blackmail Kaname instead of trying to take him down immediately. It was a risky move. Not bringing the Council in right away meant that Diachi was facing Kaname one on one, at least for the present. The leverage Nasser had so conveniently provided was fairly sizable and Kaname would be pretty desperate to keep him mollified and contain the situation before it got out of control. Diachi had him between the proverbial rock and hard place and could quite believable exact a lot of beneficial concessions from him now... but Nasser knew that Kaname was not to be trifled with. If that was Diachi's game, he was going to have to get his ducks in a row fast before the younger pureblood found a way to crush him. Surely, Diachi knew that, hence the phone call to Nasser.

Quite honestly, Nasser didn't think Diachi had a chance in the long run. It would have been amusing to watch it play out except that this new wrinkle had the potential to upset the balance of his plans, which was something he could not afford to allow at this stage of the game. A faint smile danced upon the pureblood's lips. It would have been better, of course, if things had gone according to plan, but it was much more _fun _this way. He wasn't worried. His base was too solid, he could weave new webs from it and still ensnare his prey, he just had to adapt his strategy to the new setting. Diachi and Kaname were balanced on a knife edge more than ever now. A little pushing and they should easily fall upon one another as he desired.

"Has Diachi done anything else of note since the _attack_?" he inquired of his servant.

"The woods were combed looking for the ambush party. I can only assume that Seiji-sama gave up that information as well. None were found or captured, of course. The documents our agent had hidden in his room were discovered as desired. The only other notable thing is that Diachi-sama has been in frequent communication with his brokers ever since he and Kaname-sama last spoke," Anais reported. "They have in turn been trying to reach out to our Benfari subsidiary quite insistently."

A delighted smile lit Nasser's face. _Ah... so Diachi was already trying to tighten his grip, was he? _Benfari Industries was one of the many sub companies which Nasser controlled, although they had no visible ties to Orion. They held a small number of premium Mission Oil shares. It was part of Nasser's holdings and had been since the beginning. Kaname had known that Benfari was his and hadn't even bothered with them, but Diachi of course, who would be an extreme latecomer to this game, was probably unaware of the connection.

Due to the massive diversity in their companies, both Kaname and Nasser controlled a good deal of the critical stock through indirect means, which they went through great lengths to hide. As a result, anyone not involved in the struggle between them would not realize the state of deadlock into which they had already entered. Diachi must think that those shares were unclaimed by either side and was probably trying to acquire them as additional leverage in his play against Kaname. Those were some original shares that had additional voting clout. If he threatened to sell them to Nasser or vote them in Nasser's favor, it would give him one more thing to hold over Kaname and he could curry favor with Nasser at the same time. It was a good move, if you didn't realize that you were stumbling into somebody else's dance, completely out of step with the music. _Poor idiot. _

Nasser was not about to let him have them, of course. Giving away those shares would significantly weaken his own position. But still, it was nice to know that Diachi was already looking for ways to further stab Kaname in the back. Certainly, he should be able to use that.

"Continue to monitor the situation closely. That is all, you may go," he dismissed Anais and there was a moment of trance once more before Rin re-emerged. The man wavered a bit, drained from the effort of the exchange. Nasser took no notice, his own gaze now distant and thoughtful as he considered his options.

_The more you squirm in my grip, Kaname, the tighter I shall hold you, never doubt that. _

Rin had barely left before there was a respectful knock at the door. Nasser, who had just started to pick up his puzzle once more, sighed and set it back down. "Enter."

A different servant entered and bowed. "My lord, forgive the intrusion, but you wanted to be notified if anything of note happened at the Hunter's Association."

Nasser raised his eyebrows. _Well, well, this was turning into quite the night, wasn't it?_ "And has there been?" he inquired. "Do tell."

* * *

Zero contemplated the gun in his hands, fingers playing lightly along the side of the barrel.

"Are you going to need someone else to do it?" Kaname asked quietly, doing a passable job of keeping whatever he was feeling out of his voice.

Zero gave a wry grin that was part grimace. He knew that Kaname _would _do it for him if he asked, but he could also tell how much his lover clearly did not _want _to. "Nah, I'll do it myself," he said casually, as if he were not speaking about putting an anti-vampire bullet through his own shoulder. "It will be more believable if I wait until just before I go in, anyway." He didn't want to shoot himself in front of Kaname; this was all hard enough as it was.

Kaname gave a nod and looked away. The cool veneer of the calculating mastermind was in place on his implacable features, but Zero could see the cracks around the edges that told the truth and the mask did not irritate him as much as it usually did, even given what they were talking about. He understood now that Kaname's apparent impassiveness was not indifference. It was what he needed to be to play the game. It was the necessary distance he had to try to place between himself and the chess board so he did not lose his objectivity. The person who lost their head and played with their emotions instead of their wits and logic was placing himself at a disadvantage. It was a disadvantage that Nasser had been using all too effectively against him thus far and they could not afford it now.

Zero slid the gun back into his shoulder holster and glanced at his watch. It would be time soon, but they needed to wait for Yagari and whoever he was bringing with him.

"Why do I have to fail?" he asked, a stubborn cast coming over his features. It was the only part of the plan he didn't like. Well... okay, there was a lot about this plan not to _like_, but it was the only part of the plan that he took _issue _with.

"Zero..." Kaname repressed a sigh. Arguing with Zero was so unproductive when he got that look in his eyes.

"No, I'm serious," Zero pressed, folding his arms. "If I don't go in there with a handicap, I could kill him for real. That would solve everything." _And be immensely satisfying. _

_You could __**try**__. _Kaname's gaze remained averted. "Zero, that's not the best way to go about this."

Zero frowned. He could tell that Kaname did not believe he could do it. His lover may well be right, unfortunately. He knew better than to underestimate how difficult it was to take down a pureblood vampire, especially one as old and powerful as Nasser, but... _damn it, _he _really_ wanted to.

"If I go in there, full power... he doesn't know what I can do. Only you, I and Yagari know. I'm not saying it would be easy, or a sure thing, I know it's not, but... I _can _kill a pureblood, Kaname," he said quietly. He realized what he was saying, and who he was saying it to, but he knew his lover would not misunderstand.

There was a faint smile on Kaname's face as he finally directed his gaze back towards the young hunter. The smile was somehow both proud and sad at the same time. "I know," he whispered. The world may as yet be unaware of it, but Kaname already knew this boy was destined to be the strongest hunter who ever lived. He probably already was, and he was still only growing into his potential. "I have no doubt that you could, with the proper set up, under normal circumstances. But these are _not _normal circumstances, and Nasser is not a normal pureblood," he whispered, the smile fading and revealing a hint of anguish before it was covered by resolute impassivity again.

"Oh, you admit there _is _such a thing?" Zero egged a bit dryly. "I thought you were all too conceited to consider anything about yourselves _normal..._"

Kaname grinned a bit more ruefully this time and shook his head. Now, Zero was simply _trying_ to be irritating. He had always been rather good at that. "_Normal _is a relative term," he rejoinder with equal dryness. "What is normal for tigers is not necessarily normal for hedgehogs."

"Let me guess, I'm the prickly one in that allegory," Zero smirked.

Kaname looked innocent. "If the shoe fits..."

"Arrogant idiot."

"Contumacious churl."

Zero scowled, it was so annoying when Kaname used his sizable vocabulary to employ insults of which Zero didn't even know the meaning. He was certain the pureblood did it on purpose and he knew better than to fall into the trap of asking what the hell he'd just said, since that would only amuse his lover unendingly and lead to suggestions that he invest in a dictionary. Still, it wasn't _so_ bad to see that small gleam of fond amusement in Kaname's eyes at this moment. There was a normalcy to the familiar banter that was strangely soothing to them both. Their relationship too, had its own odd brand of 'normal'.

"Seriously, though," Kaname said after a moment, reluctantly returning to the gravity of the matter at hand. "There are levels of power even among purebloods. Most people do not realize such because even a weaker pureblood is so much stronger than the strongest noble that there is simply no comparison, but among purebloods themselves, the distinctions become more important," he explained. "In centuries past, we were our own worst enemies and people like Nasser ruthlessly hunted the weaker of our own species for the power that absorbing them would bring."

_Lions are best suited to hunt other lions, and that's part of why there's all the games and the pretence, why they're all so damn careful about not letting others see them as weak, _Zero mentally summarized. Once a strange and alien concept, after everything he had seen and learned from being with Kaname these past years, it now made grim sense.

"There are so few now, that those who _are_ still around are all more or less on an equal level, but there is still variance. Nasser is one of those variances. He is very old and he has absorbed the power of hundreds of other purebloods during his life. As things stand at this moment, you would not be able to kill him, Zero."

Zero felt a small chill run down his back at the grave look in Kaname's eyes. He realized the unspoken implication that Kaname did not really think himself up to that task either. Not without some kind of advantage, one which they were not likely to get at the moment.

"Okay, I get that, but if I'm supposed to fail anyway, then what does it hurt to _try_?" Zero argued.

Kaname frowned slightly; worry starting to break through his facade. "It's too dangerous, Zero. If you attack him with your powers, he will see you as a real threat and the possibility that he will instinctively respond with immediate deadly force is too high. Besides, he _must _have reason to suspect that you are being pursued. If he perceives no possible time constraints on your encounter, he may be inclined to... take his time..."

Kaname stopped, logic and reason faltering, control slipping as the reality of what he was saying and the situation he was asking Zero to walk into pressed unmercifully upon him. Nasser's cruelty flooded his mind unbidden and his stomach turned, the objectivity he was struggling for shattering. Was he really going to put Zero into those hands, for any amount of time?

The pureblood's head dropped into his hand, obscuring his face, his fingers curling harshly against his forehead. He was weak. It was too late to be second guessing now; he had already committed to the play, he _knew_ this was the only path they could take. He should be able to do this... but he was torn.

"This is... a mistake," he murmured. He raised his head, his eyes opening slowly to find Zero watching him closely and with visible concern. "I don't like it, it's a bad idea." There was so much that could go wrong. If he had miscalculated Nasser's probable reactions at all... it could cost Zero his life. He had played many risky gambits before, but gambling with his lover's life like this was different.

Zero looked at him dryly. "Kaname, this is _your _plan."

The miserable unease in Kaname's expression was clear. "I know, that's the problem," he admitted quietly. He had little enough confidence in himself and his abilities to play this game right now, the fact that he was placing so much on the line... maybe it was the wrong thing to do.

"Maybe I'm still playing right into his plans and I don't see it. Even if not, if I misjudged his level of curiosity... or if the hunters don't come through..." _you'll die. _Kaname closed his eyes. He was unaccustomed to second-guessing himself this severely and even more unaccustomed to letting anyone know it. He knew he was already failing Zero. He should be acting confident to instill confidence. As a leader and a pureblood, he should _never _let anyone see that he had any doubts about anything. Zero was a special case, but that was hardly fair to the hunter now, since Zero was the one on whom so much of this would rest. If he couldn't fool Nasser then it was all for naught, and if Kaname himself didn't have confidence in his own plan, how could he expect Zero to believe in it?

"It's a mistake," he repeated again. "I can't... I can't do it. I can't gamble with you like this. I have to find another way."

Zero was actually rather unsettled by Kaname's completely atypical behavior, but he understood it. Nasser had done this to him. Nasser had manipulated, taken advantage of and deeply scarred Kaname when he was young and vulnerable. Now the younger pureblood doubted everything about himself and his abilities when it came to dealing with the older, which unfortunately gave Nasser an advantage - something he expected and counted on, no doubt. _The bastard._

"No." Zero reached out and gripped Kaname's shoulders, looking at him seriously. "We can't back down now, everything is already in motion. This is a _good plan, _Kaname. I wouldn't have agreed to it if it wasn't and if I didn't think it could work. If you say this is the way it needs to be... okay, I trust you. It's the best shot we have and you know it. Yes, it's risky, but I can handle it. Trust me a little, okay?" Zero knew this plan was as crazy as they came, but he had a feeling that crazy was necessary at this point - Nasser already had all the sane options far too well locked down.

Kaname nodded slowly. The logical part of his mind, the part that knew Zero was completely right, struggled to reassert control. It _was _the only real shot they had and if he had been sending _anyone else_ out there, he would not have even hesitated. It's just that this was _not_ anyone elsethey were talking about.

"You know I do," he said quietly, reaching out and cupping Zero's cheek tenderly in his hand. "Just be careful, Zero." He leaned in and kissed the hunter's warm lips with a soft, desperate slowness before he could waffle any further. They were committed, he needed to trust his instincts and hope to God he was doing the right thing. He gripped Zero's shirt, pulling the boy to him and holding onto him tightly. He was a fool to have so much of himself, his heart and his sanity tied up in one place, in one person... but that was a mistake it was far too late to ever remedy, and one he wouldn't change if he could.

"I could not live, if he took you from me," he whispered against Zero's mouth.

Kaname meant it figuratively, but Zero knew how unfortunately deadly literal it could be taken as well. It was a weighty responsibility. He had to live every day knowing that he carried Kaname's heart and life around in his hands and frankly that could be exhausting. Sometimes he wished they could just be normal lovers but he knew that was impossible. Fate had tied their lives too closely together. They had become symbiotically dependant on one another to a disturbingly un-human degree.

Zero's lips parted, his mouth giving easily under Kaname's gently seeking touch. He tilted his head a bit, arms sliding further around Kaname's shoulders as he reciprocated, tongues lightly touching and caressing as if reaffirming the ties that bound them to one another.

The young hunter may fervently wish things were otherwise sometimes, but if given the alternative of _not_ being important to Kaname, or never having become his lover... he knew he would choose to be exactly where he was right now, every time. "I know," he whispered back as he leaned forward, sweetly dominating Kaname's mouth in a series of slow, deliberate kisses.

"So you've got nothing to worry about." Zero gave the pureblood a roguish grin before capturing his mouth again. _I'm not about to let anything happen to you._

* * *

Nasser stared thoughtfully at the lightening night sky out the window. He tapped one finger on the arm of his chair, mulling over the information he had been given. Like an ever-changing bank of cloud blown by unseen winds, things were beginning to shift and form new shapes and he found himself needing to track many moving targets in order to be sure he did not err or miscalculate.

The servant who was in charge of monitoring the audio and data stream he had flowing out of the Hunter's Association had reported that the hunters had been in an in an uproar all night. They knew about the turned hunters and, predictably but satisfyingly, they suspected Kaname's involvement, despite some not all together unexpected dissent from Kiriyu's mentor.

Events were not supposed to have unfolded quite like this, but it was gratifying at least that certain elements were still proceeding as desired. Naturally, he had layer upon layer of fall-back plans in place. However, something had changed in the past few hours. It was a subtle shift, but still noticeable to the well trained ears he had monitoring the Association feeds at all times.

The hunters were up to something. They were being more careful and circumspect in their communications. They were trying to hide something. He would have wondered if they had discovered the listeners, except that a very different reason had just now popped up to add to the many interesting events of the night. Dissention among the hunter ranks was taking on a much starker hue then he had expected. Something was going down and orders were being issued, orders that were not to be recorded as official actions.

This flurry of activity had just culminated with Kiriyu's mentor, Toga Yagari being forcibly detained and removed to a cell in the lower levels. There were no charges proffered, it was clear that they simply wanted him out of the way for the moment. _Very interesting. _

Nasser wasn't sure what it meant yet, although he had theories. Something was happening, he could feel it. Not just with the hunters, either. Events were swinging into motion all around them like ripples rolling across the face of a formerly placid pond. Nasser knew the source of those ripples. He knew who was shaking the earth to cause them.

Kaname was up to something.

_What are you playing at, my pet? What moves do you think you have to counter me now? Show me what you have, Kaname. I look forward to it..._

* * *

"Master Toga's been _arrested?_" Zero stared at the two hunters in front of him in shock. He'd been expecting Yagari to return with them, but Kaito and Kio had arrived at Night Haven alone.

Zero was not surprised by whom his master had chosen. Kaito had matured and was no longer the somewhat caustic individual he had been when they were young. He was not friendly with Zero, but he was not antagonistic towards him either. He had the skills and the guts to pull this off, and Yagari obviously trusted him. Kio was a much less obvious choice, but Zero guessed Yagari had picked him for his heart rather than his skill. He was one of the few people who _was _truly friendly towards Zero, at least since their last mission.

Kaito folded his arms. "More like - temporarily detained," he clarified. "For insubordination." There was a very faint hint of a smile playing about his lips, as if he liked that thought a little too much.

Zero's eyes narrowed as he quickly realized that Kaito wouldn't think this was so funny if Yagari was actually in any kind of real trouble. He realized that Kaname was smiling now as well.

The pureblood clucked his tongue. "And I bet he was _detained _right in the main council chamber too?" he inquired, giving a small, approving nod. "Remind me not to underestimate your Sensei, Zero. He is smarter than he looks, however small a compliment that might be."

Zero looked at him and suddenly he understood what Kaname was implying and what Yagari must have done. He grinned sardonically. "I'll make sure and tell him you said that."

"The brass doesn't know about this," Kaito clarified, just to make sure everyone understood the delicate nature of the situation. His expression became a little more sober. "Yagari has friends, and he called in favors." He leveled a steady gaze at Zero, as if silently telling him he'd better be worth the lengths their Sensei was willing to go to for him. "Thanks to how empty the current circumstances have made headquarters, it could be managed, but if anyone finds out we're acting on our own like this, we're all going to be in trouble."

Kio looked nervous but determined and Zero felt a trifle guilty for dragging him into this. Kaito was a risk taker by nature - he liked to shake the tree and see what fell out. Kio wasn't, but nobody had forced him to be here.

"They won't find out," Kaname said simply. "As long as no ill befalls Zero, I will make sure that no ill befalls either of you."

Kaito returned the pureblood's piercing gaze, dark flicker in his eyes saying he was aware of the threat that hid behind the promise in those words. Kaname was subtly implying that if any ill _did _befall Zero on their account, it would not go well for them. Kio was oblivious enough for this all to be going over his head, but Kaito bristled visibly.

"We're doing this for Master Toga and Zero, and because nobody meddles with the Association like this and gets away with it. We don't need or want anything from _you, _vampire," he said coolly. "I trust Master Toga, and we protect our own," he nodded slightly towards Zero. "That's _it. _We are not your pawns; don't think we'll play your games."

"Of course, I understand perfectly, Takamiya." Kaname gave a graceful shrug, a smooth, amused smile dancing on his lips.

From the outside looking in, Zero could see that while Kaito may have his own reasons, he was still doing exactly what Kaname needed him to do. That was how it worked, of course. That was how Kaname moved his game pieces. He found the right thread that aligned their purposes and tugged on it, setting his scenarios in motion. Zero found it weird and almost disturbing, how much he was able to see these things now. It was still unsettling to his deeply independent nature to acknowledge that the fate of so many could be so easily manipulated by so few. Deep down, he wondered if the fact that this was all starting to become familiar and on some level acceptable to him meant that he really had sold out as he'd long ago feared might happen if he stayed with Kaname.

At what point did you start accepting things you used to fight simply because they were always present? Did that mean he was slowly being corrupted by the vampire culture in which he spent too much time... or did it just mean that getting a better understanding of something could make it seem less frightening and evil?

Kaito shot Kaname a glare that Zero recognized all too well. He hated being manipulated, and he didn't like seeing it done to Kaito and Kio or Yagari. He should feel guilty that he was a part of it... but he could not. They would not be harmed, they were doing nothing that did not also benefit them, and they were needed.

Zero's gaze strayed momentarily to Kaname. He understood now, what it felt like on _this_ side of the coin, where you had to choose what mattered to you and hold onto it tightly, no matter the cost. It was abhorrent to his nature, but he'd already decided that if he had to, he would do anything and use anyone in order to protect Kaname. He could not feel that that was wrong.

Zero looked at his watch. "It's time," he said simply. "We need to start."

Kaito gave Kaname one more glare before turning to make sure Kio had his gear in order. As soon as he turned away, Zero saw the ache of raw apprehension flicker uneasily in Kaname's gaze, until Kaname realized that Zero was still observing him and the pureblood quickly tucked it away again.

"Be careful, Zero," Kaname whispered. His stomach felt like it was full of razor sharp ice but he refused to let that show. Instead he put all the adoration and confidence he could into his gaze. _I will be waiting for you. _

Zero smiled back at Kaname and tipped him a small salute in reply. _I know. _

"Careful?" Kaito couldn't help snorting slightly. "You do realize that-"

"Kaito! Let's go," Zero cut him off with a sharp look. Kaname didn't need anyone making him feel any worse about this. Giving Kaname one last bright, confident smile, the young hunter turned and left. Kaito gave Zero a slightly surprised, assessing glance, but he said no more as he and Kio followed him out.

Kaname watched Zero's retreating back until it was out of sight. He felt as if all the light had left with him, plunging the room into shadow.


	31. Make Our Move

_A/N: Sorry for the long wait and the lack of review responses. Explanations are on my bio page. Thank you all for sticking it out and not forgetting about this story. :) I deeply, deeply appreciate all the wonderful comments and reviews, and just knowing that people are still reading and care what happens. Thank you all! _

_Don't worry if you don't quite understand everything that goes on in this chapter just yet. It will all make sense as things continue to unfold and we finally get to see what exactly Kaname's plan actually is. It wouldn't be any fun if we knew everything up front, right? ;D_

**Chapter Thirty-One: "Make Our Move"**

Kaito was watching Zero with an assessing eye as they left the mansion and the three of them piled silently into Kaito's car. Zero felt the scrutiny but ignored it. He was not a child anymore, and he was resigned to the reality of mistrust and suspicion from other hunters. Kaito had more reason than most, considering he'd had to hunt and kill his own ex-human brother. Zero understood that and frankly at the moment, he didn't care. He had much bigger things to be worrying about. He acted confident and sure of himself for Kaname, but he knew that what he was walking into wasn't going to be pretty.

"You've changed," Kaito observed as he backed down the long drive and out onto the road. It was not an accusation, it was a statement. He'd had call to work with Yagari and Zero a number of times over the past few years, but he'd seen something in Zero just now that he'd not expected. Zero wasn't what he would call shy exactly, but _quiet _or _taciturn_ came perhaps nearer the mark. The silver-headed hunter had plenty of attitude to spare and wasn't afraid to voice his opinions if he seemed to feel the situation warranted it, but this steely spark of purpose and overriding resolve he was seeing now was new. They were the qualities of a leader, not something he'd particularly pegged Zero for before.

Zero glanced over at the other boy with an unreadable expression. "We all change, Kaito," he said simply. Maybe that should frighten him a little. For so many years he'd been afraid of changing, afraid of becoming something... something he didn't even understand. But he wasn't so afraid anymore. Nothing remained the same forever. Everything changed. Life was made of choices, and he knew his choices had brought him here. Perhaps it wasn't so much that he had _changed_, as that his focus had sharpened and things simply seemed clearer.

_Clarity _was exactly the impression that Kaito was getting from the younger hunter at the moment. A calm, authoritative clarity that made the older hunter consider that maybe Yagari wasn't quite as insane as he seemed to be wasting so much of his time on this ex-human boy.

Kaito said nothing more and watched the road thoughtfully. Maybe tonight wasn't going to be a total waste of time. He was the kind of person who liked to kick a hornets' nest to see what happened, and they were about to stir up a rather large ripple in the vampire-scum pond, so this might be rather... interesting.

* * *

"How's he doing?" Takuma stood in the doorway to Aido's bedroom, glancing inquiringly at the redhead who was sitting vigil by his unconscious cousin's side. Aido's hands and the portion of his chest visible above the covers were swathed in bandages. His face was bruised and he was hooked up to an IV drip.

Kain looked up. His eyes were tired, but clear. "The wounds are still bad, but he's stabilized. He'll be better once the hunter poison wears off and his body can do something about them." _Providing it's not too weakened from that damn virus_... the concern showed in the green eyes, but was not put into words.

Takuma gave a small nod. "He really does attract trouble, doesn't he?" he said quietly, remembering a time some years back when he'd needed to give Aido blood after the blond had been critically injured by Takuma's grandfather's assassins.

Kain gave a wan impression of a wry grin. "Yeah, tell me about it. Shiki with you?"

Takuma wasn't sure if he was trying to change the subject or really wanted to know. He nodded. "Yeah, he's downstairs. We brought over everything that might be of interest from Aido's, although Kaname said he doesn't think there's much to worry about there anymore."

"You're going to Kaname." It wasn't a question. Kain knew that bringing the files and data from Aido's place was just a pretext. Takuma had come to Night Haven for other reasons.

Takuma smiled and shrugged. "Of course. You know where Zero's going. This has to be really hard on him."

Kain gave another nod. Yes, he knew. The atmosphere of the entire mansion left little doubt about Kaname's current state of mind. The taller vampire tossed something and Takuma caught it.

Takuma looked down to see a small plastic bag with two pills inside it. It was the vampire equivalent of aspirin, although naturally it was strong enough to down an elephant in order to work on their systems. Takuma smiled wryly as he shook the pills out of their wrapper and into his palm. "Oh, that bad, huh?"

Kain grinned mirthlessly, rubbing his temples. "Can't you feel it? It's been getting worse ever since Kiriyu left. Kaname's in his study. I recommend you take those if you're going to be getting any closer to him than we are now."

Takuma saw the wisdom in that and dry swallowed the pills. He could feel the oppressive swirl of Kaname's disturbed aura, certainly, although he apparently had a higher tolerance for it than Kain did. Maybe because his bloodline was just that little bit stronger, or maybe because he'd grown up with Kaname and he was accustomed to feeling the pureblood's moods.

"Thanks," he said, before taking his leave and heading towards the study.

* * *

"This plan is insane and you're probably going to die," Kaito felt the need to reiterate pragmatically as he got out of the car and closed the door behind him. "You do realize that, Kiriyu?" What Zero did was his business, but he deserved a chance to back out if he wanted to. It wasn't like this was a mission and he was under any kind of obligation. What they were doing was highly unofficial. They would all be in trouble if the Association found out, but of course Kaito didn't plan on getting caught.

A soft night breeze tugged at the ends of the hunters' jackets and ruffled through their hair as the three of them exited the parked vehicle and stood in the grass and gravel beside the deserted roadway. There was nothing but starlit fields and trees for as far as the eye could. Nasser, like Kaname and most purebloods, preferred to have their lodgings well away from civilization, where the noises, smells and humanity of the masses could not intrude upon their overly keen senses.

Zero gave the elder hunter a small, grim smile and a shrug. The dim moonlight overhead frosted the ends of his silver hair and made them white. "And you would care?"

Kaito shrugged back, expression unreadable as he checked the load in his weapon, clicking the clip into place. "Hey, this is your party. Just so long as you don't get _us_ killed too."

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Kio asked Zero with a little more obvious concern, fidgeting uncomfortably with his own weapon. Kio was using a crossbow these days, Zero noted. Probably a better choice for him than a gun. Like a rifle, it had better accuracy over a longer range and would let the boy stay further away from the fighting.

"Sure," Zero answered simply. He gave a ghost of a steely smile. "I'm hard to kill. So...?" Zero started to ask, turning towards the older hunter with his arms spread slightly in question. Kaito was several dozen paces away and it was a reasonable distance to make this look good.

Kaito brought his gun up without hesitation and fired once, putting a bullet cleanly and accurately through Zero's shoulder.

Zero stumbled back a step, clutching his shoulder and squeezing his eyes shut as burning pain sliced through him and radiated from his shoulder in sickening waves. Warm, sticky blood oozed rapidly over his fingers and soaked the front and back of his jacket. The shot was a through-and-through which meant the bullet wouldn't linger and continue to damage him, but the poison from its passage was already burning its way into his blood.

_"Shit!" _he swore softly around grit teeth. Kaito had done that a lot faster than he'd expected and it caught him a bit off guard. "A little warning would have been nice," he muttered through his teeth, casting the other hunter a baleful glare.

Kaito shrugged, looking unperturbed. "What? You're the one who asked me to do it."

Zero snorted slightly. Well, no point arguing there. He hadn't lied to Kaname, he _had_ been thinking about shooting himself. It wasn't impossible for him to have received the wound in close-quarters combat after all. However, on the drive out here he'd decided that if Nasser knew anything about stippling and muzzle burns it would be a trifle more credible if it was less possible for the wound to have been self inflicted. Okay, so to be honest the thought had crossed his mind earlier too, but he hadn't wanted to tell Kaname that possibility. To Zero it made little difference who did the necessary shooting, but his lover would have had issues imagining someone else, especially another hunter, harming him.

Zero sighed. "Right, well... you'd better punch me too," he said resignedly. Now that he'd been shot the bruise would take and the more obvious it was that he'd been in altercation, the better.

This time, Zero wasn't surprised when Kaito hauled off and socked him immediately. The blow still sent him sprawling onto his backside though. The other hunter hadn't held back at all. _Yeah, Kaname definitely shouldn't know about this. _

Zero clutched his shoulder again for a moment to deal with the pain that the jar of falling had caused before he wiped his now bleeding mouth with the back of his hand. _Ow... well at least it would look plenty real. _"You don't have to enjoy this so much," he remarked dryly.

Kaito grinned a little too cheerfully. "I believe in getting into my work. Think we should do another?"

Zero shot him a dirty look from under his silver bangs as Kio helped him back to his feet. "No, thanks, I think this will be just fine."

Kio was fussing worriedly, asking if he was okay and Zero brushed him off. He was in pain but had no trouble standing on his own. "I'm fine, I'm fine," he muttered. He wasn't, but that was kind of the point, so it was all the same difference.

Zero drew several deep breaths, filling his lungs with the cool night air which helped him deal with the fire throbbing in his body. Pulling his own gun, he clicked several normal bullets into the chamber and calmly shot out the front tires and windshield of Kaito's parked car, putting one through the hood too for good measure.

"HEY!" Kaito protested in surprise. "What the hell are you doing?"

Zero smirked at him, feeling a lot less guilty about that then he would have a few minutes ago. "Need a reason to be out here on foot at this hour, right? You were driving me back to HQ, I made a break for it, shot the car up, you shot me and I ran." He would have shrugged if that motion wouldn't have caused holy hell for his bleeding shoulder. "Simple."

Kaito glared but seemed to accept the explanation. "Fine then, you better start running, idiot. You've got twenty minutes and then we're coming after you. Oh and if you live, you're paying for the repairs."

Zero knew Kaito meant they were giving him a twenty minute head start, since it would take longer than that to get to Nasser's rented villa from here on foot. They couldn't afford to have parked too close. Out here they were far enough away for their actions to have gone unobserved.

"Whatever. Guess I'm _'it' _then," he muttered before turning and taking off across the darkened fields beside the road. He disappeared into the starlit woods. Behind him, he heard faint sounds that indicated Kio and Kaito were probably putting finishing touches on the scene they'd just staged before they too charged off into the woods, ostensibly on his trail, but then 'losing' him in the trackless darkness of the forested countryside.

* * *

Yagari had a worn pack of cards in his hands and was flinging them one at a time against the stone wall of the cell across from him in agitated boredom. The cell was small so they didn't have far to travel. They impacted with a soft sound somewhat akin to a hard-shelled bug hitting a windshield before fluttering to the floor. It beat pacing only because there wasn't room in here for him to pace more than two steps at a time with his long legs.

_God, he wanted to get out. _The galling thing was that the door wasn't even locked. He'd wasn't really incarcerated after all. He'd gotten himself put down here. He'd pulled favors and called on friends to play out the scene, and now he had to wait it out long enough to be believable in case anyone observed him leaving. If that pureblood bastard had been listening in, which he surely was, then he would now have very good reason to think that the Association must be plotting against Zero, given Yagari's actions and supposed reactions. That should work nicely with Kaname's plan. Not that he gave a damn about _any_ pureblood's plans and schemes mind you, but considering how heavily this one involved Zero, he was going to do his part to help it along.

Yagari knew how to do devious when it suited him and he was quite capable of planning a few things out himself. Like which people he had sent to be with Zero tonight since he couldn't be. Kaito was quick witted, quick on his feet and a good fighter if it came to that. He was capable, trustworthy and he had enough of a rebel streak to think this might be fun. Kio would normally be a liability, tonight he was a _well planned_ liability.

Yagari liked Kaito, and he would have trusted him with his _own _life, but he wasn't sure of how much Kaito did or didn't consider Zero a full-fledged teammate given the whole vampire thing. He couldn't be _sure_ he wouldn't abandon the boy too easily if things went to hell. Kio though... Kio _did_ consider Zero one of them. The kid had his share of faults, but he wasn't a coward. He liked Zero and he was young, idealistic and foolish enough that he wouldn't run if it meant leaving someone behind, not even if it was the smart thing to do. Whether or not Kaito would choose to stick his neck out for Zero, he would certainly not let any harm come to the young student under his care.

It was a good balance, because ultimately, Yagari knew, if there really was no choice and the situation was too bad then Kaito was capable of simply dragging Kio out of there and keeping them both safe if he had to, which was as should be, but he truly hoped it wouldn't come to that. Losing Zero tonight, to some freaking pureblood bastard, was entirely _not _an option he was willing to accept.

Yagari sighed and flung another card against the wall. He hated the damn waiting. He hated not being able to do anything directly and he was certainly _not _going to sit in this cruddy cell all night.

He let the guards pass through a couple more times before finally sliding out and disappearing as silent as a ghost. The guards thought he had been down here as some kind of joke to begin with, so when they next came through and found only an empty cell and a scattering of playing cards on the floor, they paid it no mind and raised no alarm.

* * *

"Nasser-sama," the quiet voice from outside his door spoke as Nasser was stepping into the large, palatial bathtub that filled half of the enormous master bathroom in the villa he was renting during his stay.

"Speak," Nasser commanded as he settled into the warm water contentedly, leaning his head back against the edge of the tub.

"A security sweep found an abandoned car by the side of the road several miles away from the property line. It has been shot up and tracks lead away into the country side."

"Mmm," Nasser murmured disinterestedly, wondering idly if he should punish the idiot outside for bothering him with trivialities. True, he had asked to be informed of any and all unusual developments, but this country's crime rate was of no particular interest to him.

"Vampire blood and a hunter bullet were discovered at the scene."

Nasser's head lifted slightly, his interest now engaged as he realized this wasn't completely boring information after all.

"I have increased perimeter security, Nasser-sama," the disembodied voice informed him and Nasser frowned.

"No, don't do that. Leave things as they are," he ordered. It was possible this had nothing to do with him or the events earlier at Hunter HQ... but he doubted it. If it did have something to do with him, then he'd rather lure whatever was out there in with a false sense of security and then deal with them himself.

"As you wish, Nasser-sama." The voice gave no indication of surprise or any other emotion towards the order and Nasser heard the footsteps retreat away from the door. He laid his head back against the edge of the tub again with a small smile, his dark hair floating in the water about him.

* * *

Zero breathed quiet and slow as he slid down the long hallway. The trip here had been grueling in his condition, but he was inside the house now. He'd invoked a powerful hunter charm which was masking both his scent and most importantly, the scent of his blood. It was draining to sustain it for so long with his current injuries, but it was a necessity. He'd bound up his shoulder with strips torn from his shirt, but he was still coated in enough blood that he would have been a walking beacon to any nearby vampires. If he wasn't shrouding himself he might as well have run around screaming "eat me!"

Not that it mattered, of course. He was _supposed _to get caught and it wouldn't have mattered _too _greatly where that happened. He supposed that even if they'd caught him in the woods on his approach, he would still doubtless have been brought before Nasser... but that wasn't how Zero wanted this to play out. _No... if he was going this far, risking this much, then he was damn well going to take a __**real **__shot at this._

He understood Kaname's reasons, and he understood the plan but... but he _really _wanted to kill the bastard. Maybe Kaname was right and he would fail, but he was willing to take that chance. If he succeeded he saved them a whole lot of trouble and if he failed, well, then that's what he was supposed to have done anyway, right? So there was the plan to fall back on.

A tiny voice in the back of Zero's mind told him that the closer he got to succeeding before failing, the worse it would be for him, but the tiny voice in the back of his mind was an idiot and he didn't care.

Quiet as a whisper, Zero un-holstered the Bloody Rose with his good hand. There was light and the soft lilt of classical music coming from under the door ahead of him. Zero's vampire senses were pretty well off-line due to the wound in his shoulder, but his hunter senses were working just fine and the hot, bright glow at the end of the hall told him that the prey he sought lay beyond that door.

* * *

Kaname stood silently by the window, his tense body betraying the agony going on inside him even if his impassive features did not. He looked down at the old fashioned pocket watch that rested open in his hand, running calculations in his head and judging the time things would take so he could try to guess what might be happening where Zero was right now.

"The most dangerous job is not always the most difficult," Takuma noted quietly as he came to a stop in the open doorway. He knew that with Zero's life on the line, waiting and being unable to do anything to influence or change the outcome of the situation he had set in motion had to be incredibly hard on his pureblood friend.

Kaname did not respond, he barely acknowledged the noble's presence. His gaze remained focused on the watch. Zero should have arrived by now. He was probably already inside the house. Kaname had no doubt he'd get in, despite Nasser's probably more than adequate security measures.

The pureblood shut his eyes for a moment, breathing slowly. _Have you already made your move, Zero? What's happening right now?_

Those were questions he could not answer with the degree of certainty he would like, but he had his suspicions. Nasser wasn't the only person whose actions he had anticipated. He knew Zero well enough to know that once he was on his own, the hunter was not going to intentionally follow the plan they had laid out together.

He _would _try to kill Nasser, but _not_ with the intention of failing. Once inside that house and committed to the attempt at hand, the hunter was going to follow his own game plan. He would use everything he had to actually try to end the other pureblood's life. It would be a spectacularly skilled effort. He would come very close... but he would not succeed. It didn't matter how good Zero was, Nasser was too old, too smart and too strong to be taken out easily. Fortunately, injured as he was, Zero couldn't display his vampiric/hunter hybrid powers, so it was all right. Given a more normal attack, Nasser was not likely to overreact before his curiosity had a chance to kick in. In fact, Zero's deadly serious intent and the very real threat he could present as a "normal" hunter was a huge part of what was going to sell this as a legitimate scenario.

Kaname stared fixedly down at the watch. All this knowledge should have been comforting, but it was not. Not tonight. Tonight he hated the fact that he knew these things. He hated feeling like he had somehow manipulated Zero even though there was quite a difference between manipulation and simply knowing how someone was going to react. Perhaps it was just because he hated having Zero be a part of this game at all. Nasser was right about one thing - you should never play with pieces you couldn't bring yourself to lose. Sometimes though... you had no choice.

* * *

Zero slid silently into the lavishly appointed bedroom. The music was a little louder in here. On the far side of the room, Nasser Ardon was draped languidly in an easy chair. He was wearing a cream colored robe and his hair was damp as if he had recently bathed. His eyes were closed, head tipped back against the chair as if lost in the music.

Zero did not waste a moment because he knew he didn't have one. No matter how relaxed and off-guard the pureblood appeared to be, he wasn't stupid enough to get lulled into coming any closer. He was too familiar with purebloods to not realize that despite appearances Nasser was undoubtedly already completely aware of his presence. He'd seen Kaname do this before - pretend to be unaware and vulnerable in order to draw prey into his web.

Fortunately, sneaking up on Nasser had never been a focal part of his plan. Nasser underestimating him, was. No sooner was Zero inside the door then the Bloody Rose was up and he was squeezing the trigger repeatedly.

Nasser was too fast, of course. He was already out of the chair by the time the first anti-vampire rounds left the chamber, but Zero had expected that. He wasn't aiming at the _chair_, since he knew that was the _last_ place Nasser would actually be by the time he fired. In a rapid blur of speed he peppered the entire room instead, covering it in a precise, deadly pattern of gunfire and creating a virtual grid of bullets. He knew better than to expect to be able to actually see Nasser when the pureblood started moving, so instead he tried to cover as wide an area as possible, starting with the most likely points of egress from the chair and working outward.

Even without his vampire speed, Zero was significantly faster than a human and most other hunters. The fact that he'd not hesitated even a beat upon seeing his quarry and that he'd not wasted time aiming at where the pureblood _was _and instead started shooting at where he _might end up_ meant that Nasser was suddenly forced to work a lot harder to dodge then he had anticipated.

A second later, Zero felt his back slamming into the wall. Years of living and sparring with Kaname had given him the ability to be able to sense, even if not always see, pureblood speed. But he'd not sensed Nasser's movement or his approach at all. He had anticipated it, but not felt it. His hunter senses were awash in the white glare of the powerful pureblood's presence and they clamored urgently in an all too sensible warning to retreat. It was a warning that he had no intention of heeding, which was good since he wouldn't have been able to anyway. No sooner had his back connected then an invisible force picked him up and threw him again, towards the opposite wall.

Zero's injured body screamed with pain at the impact, but he doggedly kept hold of his weapon and didn't let it get knocked out of his grip even as he again found himself sailing through the air. He'd been through this annoying, flying puppet routine more than once and he knew you couldn't stop it or try to make it hurt any less than the pureblood in control of you wanted it to hurt. He didn't bother trying to protect himself from the impending impact and squeezed off several more shots instead.

His body punched into the wall hard enough to break through the plaster and he felt his gun wrenched from his grip by an inhuman force. He heard it hit something hard - the floor, the wall, he couldn't be sure. He tried to see where it had gone, to track its current location but his vision was clouded and filled with sickeningly whirling lights.

He was airborne again. He hit the wall with less force this time, although it still cracked under the impact... or maybe that was his ribs. Zero slid down the wall leaving a bloody smear behind. His head spun and his body felt thoroughly pulverized. Everything hurt. A terrible, unnatural leadenness came over him as an incredibly powerful will pressed down upon him like a crushing, physical force. Cool fingers closed around his throat and Zero knew that Kaname had been right. This fight had ended way too fast. He could tell that even if he'd come in here full strength, he would not have been a match for this kind of power. Not _yet. _

Nasser crouched over Zero's crumpled form, one strong hand wrapped around the young would-be-assassin's throat. His long dark hair was loose and damp after his bath. It spilled across his shoulders and hung around his face as he bent there, regarding the bloodied hunter with a dark, curious gaze.

A thin red line of blood marred the side of Nasser's otherwise flawless left cheekbone. A narrow gouge of skin was missing and the area around it was flushed and irritated, clearly a reaction to hunter poison. The flush was fading fast. The wound was little more than a graze and was slowly knitting despite the toxin. Another bullet must have grazed Nasser's shoulder because the sleeve of his silk robe was torn and stained with crimson. The wounds may be slight, but it was no small thing that Zero had been able to actually get close enough to the pureblood to mark him not just once, but twice.

Nasser touched the welt on his cheek, his fingers coming away tipped with red. He looked at them quizzically for a moment before that disturbingly unperturbed gaze slid back to his captive. He appeared more startled and bemused by the wounds than angry and that was somehow unsettling.

Zero blinked, struggling to breathe and make the world right itself. He shifted a little against the wall, obviously wanting to fight but not physically able to do so with Nasser controlling his air supply and holding him frozen with his will.

"My, my I _am _slipping," Nasser commented lightly as he painted the blood on his fingers down Zero's cheek. The shallow wounds Zero had given him burned uncomfortably, but the pureblood knew that would soon cease. He deserved that sting for underestimating his little intruder. True, he hadn't expected to see Kuran's pet here, but even if he'd known who was coming he wouldn't have acted any different. Nasser had supposed he must be fairly skilled since Kaname had taken him on as protégé, but Kiriyu was obviously more than just _fairly skilled. _That little trick where the hunter wisely attempted to shoot _ahead _of his target had been unexpected, as had the fact that the boy could keep fighting while being thrown around. Nasser had been much too sloppy and the boy was good. Not good _enough _of course, for whatever he'd been stupidly attempting to do, but still...

"It's somewhat impressive that you made it by my security completely unnoticed, but more importantly you made a pureblood bleed," he told Zero in that same, unnervingly light tone. "Unforgivable for a vampire, but then, you're a hunter too, so perhaps that's something to be proud of before you die, little one."

Zero clutched his bleeding shoulder, his head lolling against the wall as he sat slumped against it. He didn't have to fake the pain radiating through his body or the dizziness that was making his vision swim. His heart was pounding like a freight train in his chest, although he stubbornly refused to acknowledge that he was afraid. This was a terrible position he'd intentionally put himself in, and he was completely at the mercy of the ruthless pureblood vampire whose gaze held him pinned. The only thing he could do now was play this out as best he could and cling to his trust in the plan and in Kaname's ability to predict and manipulate Nasser's reactions.

"Nasser-sama!" worried voices called from the doorway as security arrived, drawn by the gunfire and completely too late to have been of any use. Nasser rolled his eyes and gave a careless shove with his mind that sent them all sprawling back into the hall, bleeding from noses and mouths.

"Oh, get out," he said distractedly and no one questioned the order, obeying quickly. They were lucky Nasser was interested enough in his _guest _that he didn't kill them all then and there for their incompetence.

Nasser smiled darkly as his attention shifted back to Zero. He was a cat toying with a mouse as he looked down at the crumpled ex-human in pleased disdain. This night was turning out even more interesting than he'd yet expected, it was terribly pleasant. This mongrel pup had dared to come into his house and snap at him, not to mention having been quite insubordinate and rude the other day. He was going to enjoy this. The pureblood watched the delicious play of fear and pride in the amethyst eyes as the young hunter tried to pretend that there was only hatred inside him.

Nasser released Zero's throat and captured his chin instead, tipping it up while his other hand closed over the young man's injured shoulder, squeezing cruelly as he pinned him against the wall with terrible strength. He looked curiously at the wound, noting now that it was clearly bullet-inflicted and predated their own skirmish. So did a rather nasty bruise on the boy's chin, under Nasser's fingers. _Well, well... he wasn't the only person Kiriyu had pissed off tonight, apparently. What have you been up to, boy?_

He wondered about that car and the vampire blood which his aide had reported. Had that perhaps been Kiriyu's blood? Probably. That meant it was possible he was actually being hunted as they spoke. _Very _interesting.

"I'm not sure why you're here or what you hoped to accomplish, but that was very, very foolish," the elder vampire purred in a silky, deadly tone.

Zero's face tensed in pain and he quickly choked off a small groan as Nasser's grip strained his wound and caused it to bleed even more heavily. He breathed raggedly through his teeth as he felt the warmth of his own blood spilling over his fingers with every rapid beat of his heart.

The unfortunately familiar leadenness of being pinned by the weight of a pureblood's will as well as their body made his limbs feel a hundred pounds too heavy and his chest rose and fell with difficulty. Nasser was much too close to him and as the sweet scent of anise and almonds filled his senses, he had a sickening moment of otherworldly déjà-vu. Memories and fears that were not his own flickered within his mind, making his body tense and his gut churn.

He had never been this close to Nasser before, but for a terrible moment he _felt_ like he had. For a terrible moment he was unfortunately aware of what it felt like to have this man's hands sliding across his naked body, ruthlessly finding his intimate places. This was something Zero had not counted on and he battled the churning fear, loathing and disgust inside him.

These were _not_ his memories, and it burned him to the core of his being to know who they _did_ belong to. Nasser hadn't violated him in that unspeakable way, but he _had_ done it to Kaname. Zero could feel the horror of those long ago actions echoing in his own body and mind, which now held his lover's memories alongside his own. For a moment, the sensations brought on by the phantom recollections were almost paralyzing. Then the sheer rage that he felt over what this pig had done to _his_ Kaname was finally enough to overcome the dangerous, bizarre feelings.

Fire burning in his eyes, Zero spat disdainfully at the pureblood leaning close to him. "Go to hell!"

Nasser blinked, amused and a bit surprised as he wiped Zero's spittle off his cheek with the back of his hand. He looked disgusted, as if he'd just touched something unspeakably dirty, but he also looked intrigued. He reacted like one might to the sight of an ant raging at a bulldozer that was about to crush it. The sight was so unusual that it was more pathetically amusing than it was worthy of any sort of outrage on the bulldozer's part. He knew he could squash the ant with one touch and he was old enough that he no longer felt the need to prove himself to anyone. He frankly didn't care whether the ant was smart enough to know its own peril or not, his pride was not affected by such trifling matters. If he let the child make him angry he would be giving the ex-human an unearned level of control over him and his reactions.

Nasser cocked his head to the side and regarded Zero with curiosity. Anyone who was close to Kaname was of interest to him and he made a point of familiarizing himself with all of their personal histories. Therefore, he knew Zero's story for the most part and he was aware of the many conflicting rumors and opinions regarding him and his somewhat unusual position and involvement with Kaname.

Nasser himself was still reserving judgment on what might be the real reasons why Kaname put up with such an ill-trained dog and kept him around. He halfway did believe that Kaname had something planned regarding the hunters, although not necessarily what everyone else assumed. It was probably something to do with the furthering of the boy's tiresome co-existence dogma.

Nasser also _more_ than halfway suspected that there was something of an emotional attachment there as well. It was no great secret that Zero had the privilege of gracing Kuran's bed more than occasionally. Given their own past encounters and the fact that the young pureblood had yet to accept an offer to spread his seed among his supporter's families, he suspected Kaname probably hadn't entirely figured out yet how to screw without feeling like it created some kind of connection, no matter how unsuitable. Time would no doubt break him of that eventually, but right now Kaname was pathetically predictable in that regard. He was young and idealistic and got way too attached to pawns.

Nasser considered Zero with an inquisitive, assessing eye. Kaname favored him, which made him interesting. Nasser wanted to know _why. _What was it that made Kaname choose _this _ex-human? Was it just because he was handy, did it have something to do with that dead Cross girl, or was it something else?

There were a lot of intriguing stories floating around about this unusual protégé. The boy had a reputation as an ill-tempered, bad-ass maverick misfit who did not know his place. A rather apt description, Nasser decided. The young man had proved his reputation for unpredictability and disrespect by showing up here tonight on this fool's errand and by his continued, suicidal insolence.

The defiance in his eyes though... it was strangely delicious. He did not bow his burning gaze when Nasser flexed his pureblood will against him and although there was fear, there was no reverence. No respect. No obedience. This child did not give a shit that he was a pureblood, despite the way his very blood should have responded to being confronted with one of the master race. _Fascinating. _

Nasser's fingers dug more sharply into Zero's shoulder, his nails becoming talons that cut through cloth and flesh, piercing into his already injured body. Zero was too far below his class to excite him sexually, he'd wearied of ex-humans millennia ago, but he _did_ enjoy watching the boy suffer.

Zero's head tipped back harder against the wall, his face contorted in a grimace of agony as the pain tore a small cry from his throat. He turned it into a growl and the pain glazing his eyes did not diminish the fire burning in their furious depths.

Nasser was quite amused. He decided he might have been a trifle unfair towards Kaname a moment ago. Maybe some of the younger pureblood's reasons for putting up with this un-housebroken whelp were a little less pathetic than he'd been supposing. For all Kiriyu's obvious shortcomings, it had to be admitted that there _was_ something innately captivating and attractive about a will that would not bow, even out of self-preservation. It was in a way what drew Nasser to Kaname and he was not overly surprised that the younger pureblood was fascinated by the same qualities.

While it would be delicious to completely break and shatter that kind of defiance, to scrub the strong will against stone until it softened and broke and pleaded _"please master, do as you will with me" ... _sometimes, in very rare cases, you could lose the value of a thing by breaking it completely. Once broken, it became ordinary, like everything else and the interest was gone. No doubt, he decided, _that_ was why Kuran had not trained the defiance out of this slave and why he gave him so much slack in his leash. He probably _enjoyed_ his pet's rebellious streak.

A cruel smile danced behind Nasser's dark eyes. _Will he do things to you that no one else will, Kaname? Is that why you keep him? It is, isn't it? _

Unlike other vampires, Nasser was not shocked nor scandalized to think that Kaname may privately choose to play a submissive role in the bedroom on occasion. He knew all about Kaname's masochistic leanings and desires. He was egotistical enough to suppose that he had helped to shape them and it pleased him unimaginably to think that Kaname still got off on being dominated. That was a shameful secret for a pureblood, and accordingly, it was not a need that just anyone could fill. If Kaname had a pureblood spouse, it would be a simple matter, but lacking that, there were few others who could safely fill that kind of role without risk of betrayal. Slaves may be the safest option, but they were too reverent, too obedient, it wouldn't have been any fun. Could it be his little Kaname had found in this unusual hunter boy a servant of the right temperament with whom he could play those forbidden games? Yes... he rather suspected so. Kiriyu was perfect, actually. He obviously had the necessary gall to do something so taboo, and yet Kaname effectively controlled his life so he was a relatively 'safe' option. Really, it all made sense when you looked at it that way.

Nasser enjoyed wondering idly if Kaname ever thought of him at moments like that. If he ever pretended they were together again. Nasser knew Kaname would never admit it of course, but it was possible. It was, after all, very easy to read the way the boy's body reacted to his mere presence in a room and to the lightest brush of his pheromones. These thoughts put him in rather a good mood, despite the fact that the ex-human bleeding out on the floor in front of him had just tried to kill him.

"You're used to getting away with a lot, aren't you?" Nasser inquired almost pleasantly. He smoothly back-handed the hunter hard enough to fracture his cheekbone and Zero's world exploded into spinning lights and blazing pain for a few moments. He blinked dazedly, struggling to bring the fragmented world back into focus.

"Unfortunately for you, I'm not like your master. I don't care for that kind of thing..." Nasser's voice came in warbles and snatches around the rushing roar in Zero's ears until it finally subsided into a dull ringing once more.

Despite the pain throbbing through his body, Zero felt a grim, satisfied amusement lodge in his chest. Nasser looked at him like a side-show freak, a curiosity. _The self important bastard. _Kaname had pegged him completely right. Pain, dizziness and the tenseness of his own vulnerability mingled with his sardonic amusement and his injured body shook slightly with spasms of dark, biting mirth.

"So tell me, Kiriyu, why are you here? Did your master send you?" Nasser was asking, when he realized that the ex-human he had pinned against the wall wasn't choking or trembling... he was _laughing_.

Zero's chuckles were short and sharp, rattling against his broken ribs with a staccato of derision.

Nasser's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Do you find the prospect of your impending death amusing, Kiriyu?"

Zero met his gaze without fear. "Immensely," he replied, his bleary smile mocking. "And you're the most pathetically amusing part of all. You, with your inflated self importance and egotistical pureblood blindness. You shit-sucking purebloods are all alike." The last bit was the only part Zero didn't completely believe, but you couldn't tell that. After all, there was only one exception to that rule in his mind. It felt _good _to be able to tell Nasser exactly what he thought of him and there was no hint of a lie in the young hunter's hate-filled eyes.

Even if this situation had purely been what it seemed to be, Zero would have responded to Nasser no differently than he was now. He was not acting, he was being himself and that was what made this whole scenario work.

Nasser felt an unwelcome and unstoppable swell of anger shoot through him. It wasn't necessarily Zero's insults as much as the fact that the boy could sit there and _laugh _at him while Nasser held his life in his hands. Kiriyu may be an ant, but there was something uncannily _irritating _about him. He was unusually good at getting under one's skin. That in itself displeased Nasser. Zero was forcing him to react and an ex-human exerting that kind of control over him was unforgivable.

Zero convulsed against the wall, screaming in earnest this time as he felt Nasser's claws slice into his stomach, cutting a deep, cross-wise gash across his abdomen. He slid further down the wall, pain all but swallowing his world. It wasn't a surprise. He'd known this was going to hurt. He knew you didn't provoke a pureblood without paying for it. But Nasser was exceptionally good at knowing exactly _how _to hurt someone. The gut wound wasn't immediately life-threatening, but it hurt as if hell itself had taken up residence in his body. Zero grit his teeth, his anger and determination steeling him against the torment. Pain was an old friend that he knew and understood. He could take it.

Nasser twisted his fingers in the wounds, unhurriedly sawing them back and forth and Zero clenched his fists harder. _He could take it, he could take it... _

Nasser enjoyed himself, watching the young man writhe as he twisted his talons cruelly inside him, mingling the boy's screams with the rhythm of the contradictorily placid music that was still playing from somewhere else in the trashed room. When he was tired of that, he left his claws in the wound, clearly indicating how easy it would be for him to flick his fingers downward and completely eviscerate the boy on the floor. He would, eventually. He would cut him open slowly and remove one organ at a time. It would be amusing to see how long it took for the hunter to die. He seemed quite strong, it could take a while.

He stared coldly into his prey's eyes, his gaze promising everything that lay ahead. He waited to see if the boy would weaken, if he would beg or at least show fear, but by now he wasn't completely surprised when Zero's eyes reflected only hate.

He wondered how sorry Kaname would be to lose the boy. Probably not _too _sorry at this point, given the nexus he'd made the hunter in recent events. Surely, he must be rather an albatross around the pureblood's neck at the moment. It was almost too bad, Nasser would have enjoyed killing him more if he could be sure it would hurt his opponent a little more strongly.

"Do it," Zero rasped, his voice tight with agony. "What are you waiting for? End it. End this whole, fucked up charade. You fucking ass-hole," he wheezed. He was walking an incredibly dangerous line, calculated risk or no, but he almost didn't care at the moment.

Nasser felt anger bubbling inside of him again and his fingers twitched, but logic was taking back over and his inner alarms were pealing an alert. Either this boy was insane, or he was intentionally provoking him. Nasser judged it to be the later and he was instantly wary. The boy's attempts at manipulation were amateur of course - anyone could fling mud at an edgy bull until it charged them, but still... he wanted to know _why. _Nasser wasn't about to be maneuvered into anything unless he knew the reasons. He could not forget that this boy was connected to Kaname and he was wary of trickery.

"You _want_ me to kill you... why?" Nasser demanded, retracting his fingers from Zero's wound and pulling the boy back up the wall so he could better look him in the face again.

Zero was in too much pain to feel much satisfaction right now, but still... once again, Kaname had been right. Nasser's own brilliance could be a weakness. If he supposed he was being maneuvered, he would instantly balk and begin to question... to look for theories and traps. The secret, Kaname had said, was to let him build up the whole thing in his own mind. Don't make it too easy. He'll never believe what you tell him. Give him the exact opposite of what you want him to believe, and let him sniff out the lie.

Zero looked away evasively. "Don't be a moron, why would I want that?"

Nasser smiled, convinced he was on the right track. "Oh, but you do..." he purred, once more feeling calm and in control again. "Now the only question is, is it actually your master who wants you dead... or do you just not want to go back and face him having failed to eliminate me? Which, I might add, was an incredibly bad plan to begin with."

Zero gave a smirk that was half snarl. "Like I give a crap what he wants or thinks. He doesn't freaking _own _me. It's you and your whole race I'd like to see dead, including Kuran." Zero spit the name like it was distasteful. It wasn't really hard. He'd had enough years of hating Kaname before he fell in love with him that it was easy to channel those emotions again, even though he no longer felt them.

"Too bad for me he made sure I _couldn't _kill him a long time ago," Zero sluggishly tapped his temple with two bloodied fingers, letting Nasser assume that he meant Kaname had created barriers in his mind to render him incapable of turning on him. Zero knew Kaname _could _do something like that, even though of course he hadn't. "Your kind ruined my life," the hatred in his eyes was real. "But that wasn't enough, was it? You just can't keep me out of your crappy little games!"

Nasser's smile broadened slightly. "Oh, I see, you don't care for having been implicated in that little mess up north, hm?"

"Don't screw with me," Zero growled. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. This is all your fault. _You _implicated me in those murders to get to Kuran. _You _are the reason he wants to give me to those Sato bastards and why the hunters think I've gone rouge." His expression twisted bitterly.

Nasser actually laughed. "Oh come now, that can't have been _such _a shocking turn of events, can it?" the pureblood's mocking tone was melodious. "After the life you've lead? Does it really surprise you? Or did you make the mistake of thinking that Kuran actually cares about anything other than himself?"

Nasser absently ran his claws down Zero's chest, cutting through his shirt and skin and making the boy give another strangled scream. He was starting to become bored with the conversation.

"Are you really so afraid of being turned over to the Satos that you think you'd get a softer fate by coming here and trying to _kill _me?" the pureblood inquired skeptically. "I must say I don't entirely follow your logic."

Zero's chest heaved as he struggled to deal with the flaming pain of his injuries. _He hurt – he really, really hurt._ He was losing a lot of blood and it was getting hard to keep his mind focused on the conversation. Hunger was beginning to throb at the back of his temples and in the base of his fangs as well, further complicating matters.

"Go to hell," he muttered again, venom only slightly muted by his slurring speech. "I'm not afraid of dying. But I won't... won't be anybody's freaking _doll_..." he his eyes fluttered closed and he struggled to get them open again.

Nasser's eyes widened. "Ah... I see. Diachi intends to give you his brother Seiji, no? Will stripped and bound to someone like that, I guess it would be rather a fate worse than death, very clever of him..." he chuckled.

His hand slid back up under Zero's chin again, tipping his sagging head back against the wall and leaning on his senses to keep him from passing out. He had no intention of allowing the boy that kind of escape or of interrupting their little chat.

"But Zero... you're such a bad boy," Nasser purred, his face very close to the hunter's. "You're lying to me. You didn't run away from Kuran and do this on your own... he sent you here, didn't he? This is all part of his little plan."

* * *

"Halt! What are you doing here? These grounds are restricted," two vampires in suits, looking very much like stereotypical security guards stepped out of the trees, leveling warning glares upon the two intruders. They had no weapons drawn, but their menacing attitude was clear enough.

Kaito stopped, holding an arm out in a slightly protective gesture that halted Kio as well. "We're here on official business, vampires. Hunting an escaped prisoner. Let us through," he bluffed brazenly. He didn't need to explain that they were hunters. From the dirty looks the two guards were giving their weapons, they already knew.

Six more security guards appeared in a semi-circle around them. "These grounds are under the temporary protection of Nasser Ardon-sama," one of the goons intoned. "We cannot allow you to go any further without authorization."

Kaito huffed in apparent exasperation. "Well I'm assuming you don't wear those stupid little ear buds as a fashion statement," he gestured to the clear wires that ran between collar and left ear on each vampire. "So get whoever you need to get on the line and get us authorization. We're chasing a dangerous rogue and if our quarry escapes due to your interference the Hunter's Association will hold your boss directly responsible."

Kio seemed slightly awed at how easily and believably Kaito lied through his teeth.

Kaito glanced sideways at him. _Take notes, kid... if you're going to stretch the truth do it big and do it bold. You're less likely to be called on it. _Yagari had taught him that one.

The guards scowled at them, forming an imposing human fence to keep the two hunters from going any farther, but one of them did break off and step aside, finger going to his ear and voice pitched too low for the hunters to hear as he communicated with someone back at the main house.

Kaito shifted impatiently from foot to foot. Time was ticking away and they needed to get going, but they couldn't afford to cause an incident by starting a fight with the guards. That wouldn't go well for their cover story and would end them up in huge trouble back at headquarters. They needed to play this like they had a legit reason to be here and hope to hell that no one thought to call the Association for confirmation. If that happened, they were all screwed.


	32. Zugzwang

_A/N: Thank you all for your patience with the long wait. As promised, here is the next chapter at last! Things are finally starting to look up, although be warned that not all is said and done just yet... :) _

_Thank you for all the awesome reviews, for good advice on combating writer's block and constructive thoughts on improvement. I appreciate you all sticking with me through this dearth in my creativity and as always, all your kind words help me remain inspired to keep going, even when working on this is difficult. Thank you so much for the lovely reviews, I love and appreciate them all! _

_Please note - I didn't have time to proof this chapter at all, so there are probably all kinds of errors and typos. I'm sorry, but I wanted to get it out this weekend, so please forgive and ignore any incidental terribleness. ;P_

_The title for this chapter comes from a chess term. Zugzwang refers to a situation in which a player is forced to make a move that does not necessarily benefit them, or may in fact be damaging to them, simply because they must move to continue play. This usually happens in the Endgame portion of a chess match. Somewhat appropriate for where we are now in Kaname and Nasser's chess game I felt. :) _

**Chapter Thirty-Two: "****Zugzwang****"**

Zero's mouth felt dry and the tense knot of apprehension tangled in his gut seemed to pull even tighter. "I don't know what you're talking about, and I don't really give a damn what you think," he returned, tight-lipped around the pain he was struggling to push through and the nervous pounding of his heart thundering in his ears. This was the pivotal moment. Either Kaname's plan was working, or Nasser was actually on to them and he was very, _very_ screwed.

The bleeding boy was stubborn and strong willed, but Nasser could see the very real flicker of fear behind the lilac eyes. Behind his indifferent front, the young hunter was not as sure of himself as he liked to believe.

Nasser leaned still closer to his prey. His warm breath brushed the side of the boy's face and his deceptively sweet and enticing scent made Zero's throbbing head spin harder. "I think you do... on both counts..." he murmured, voice taking on a silky, seductive, frighteningly familiar timber that made Zero's blood chill instinctively.

Zero knew to be wary of that tone. As he had often observed with Kaname, purebloods tended to be at their most darkly seductive when they were also at their most dangerous. The young hunter was weak and in a world of pain. He could feel something inside him trembling perilously under the pressure being placed upon him. It was no small task to keep from falling to the pressure of a pureblood's will when it was turned full upon you.

He shifted uncomfortably, wincing in agony but welcoming the pain as a means of trying to keep his fogging head clear. Nasser was too close. He was literally making Zero dizzy. The ex-human had lost far too much blood and he was critically injured, it was impossible for him to not react to the lingering scent of Nasser's pure blood in the air. Zero struggled with himself desperately as his irises started to become edged with a ring of traitorous, burning red. Going into bloodlust now was _such _a bad idea. He needed to be in control and when he started down this slippery slope _control _went out the window. He could not afford to offer Nasser that kind of vulnerability, but neither was it something he was truly able to fight.

Nasser smiled, enjoying the struggle on the bruised face of his prey. There was something really perversely attractive about the way the boy fought so hard to suppress those most basic and insuppressible of vampire instincts. Zero had another handicap as well, Nasser could tell, although the boy was probably unaware of it.

Nasser's bloodied fingers trailed slowly and seductively across Zero's cheek, painting a red smear down the pale skin and dragging slowly across the warm pad of his lips. He felt the involuntary shudder that ran through the body beneath him and noted the way the ex-human's eyes glazed with something other than just pain. This boy had been _conditioned. _He had obviously been around Kaname's pheromones enough to have become extra sensitive and attuned to them. Nasser's were different, so in a manner of speaking his keys didn't fit the right locks to undo Zero, but once an ex-human became conditioned to one pureblood, he or she also became more aware of all of them.

"I don't think you hate Kuran as much as you claim..." Nasser purred, still playing on Zero's senses to drive home his point. "I think you used to, but he's completely turned you, hasn't he? He's always been very good at procuring fanatical loyalty in his followers." Nasser's fingers ghosted down Zero's throat and the hunter grit is teeth.

"I bet, you even fancy you love him," Nasser's smile was wide and unpleasant.

* * *

_Tick... tick... tick... tick..._

Kaname's fingers curled around the watch, it took conscious effort not to accidentally crush it in his tense grip. His palm felt clammy against the warm metal of the smooth casing.

_Nasser's hands slid along his body, both cruel and seductive, pleasuring and painful, punishing him for his failures with both agony and unwanted ecstasy, leaving the young pureblood unsure which was worse... _

Takuma, still standing silently in the doorway since Kaname had not given him leave to enter, saw a single shudder trace through the pureblood's form. Kaname's tense features didn't appear to change, but then, the noble could not see his friend's eyes from where he stood.

Kaname was only marginally aware of Takuma's presence, all his thoughts were focused elsewhere. His heart thudded sickeningly in his chest. He knew what Nasser was capable of, he knew what he _enjoyed, _and he had sent Zero in there to be at his mercy. Kaname felt physically ill.

_No, he won't. He won't do that. Not to Zero. It's not in his nature. _Kaname clung to the faint voice of logic, the one that had allowed him to even consider this move - a move which would never have been an option if he thought there was any chance of that _bastard _violating his mate.

_Zero is a 'D, Nasser won't see any fun in him as a conquest. It's too ordinary, too boring. Power and breeding are everything to him, he won't waste his time or dirty himself with someone who is that far "below" him. Not without a reason. _

Kaname, of course, did not share that mindset, but it was _Nasser's_ mindset that was important at the moment. Kaname knew Nasser wanted _him_ because he was "worthy prey". Nasser was a game hunter in that respect, and he was only interested in the exotic and difficult prizes. It was about the chase as much as the kill. He was having as much fun trying to run Kaname down as he would if and when he was able to actually bring him to ground.

With Zero, it was different. Zero was a pawn. Nasser would want to use him, but only as a means of furthering his game against Kaname. He would hurt him, certainly, and knowing that cut Kaname's insides like he had swallowed a box of broken razors... but Zero could heal from physical wounds. Kaname could heal him. He'd give Zero every last drop of his blood if he needed to; there was nothing he'd hold back. The important thing was to be sure that Nasser would not hurt his lover in ways Kaname could _not_ heal. He could not be allowed to damage the hunter's heart and soul.

Kaname was more than reasonably sure he wouldn't. If he read Nasser at all correctly, it shouldn't be a danger and there shouldn't be time, anyway. He'd planned the timing as carefully and cut it as short as possible to try and ensure both against that, and against Nasser having time to decide to just kill Zero.

But could he _really _be certain? How many times had he already made hideous blunders and miscalculations in his dealings with Nasser? _What if he was wrong now? _

* * *

Yagari slid quietly into the data terminal room in which he had accidentally discovered the first bug earlier. There were two techs in here now but when he pressed his finger to his lips, they merely nodded and continued what they were doing. Everyone still in the building was aware of the need to maintain the façade of normality in the areas being monitored. The two techs were pretending to go about business as normal while in actuality they worked feverishly trying to trace their intruder back to its source. The same thing was happening all over headquarters.

It was a madhouse here, but not as mad as the venture that Zero, Kaito and Kio were probably embroiled in at right this moment. He had done almost everything he could to set the stage for them, but there was one thing left... the most dangerous and difficult thing. It might not even be necessary, but then again, it might. The question was whether he could pull it off or not. He wouldn't know until he tried... which hopefully wouldn't end with him getting himself locked up for real this time.

Because Yagari was one of the senior hunters and his involvement in the uncovering of this threat was known, the techs didn't think to question what he was doing here and raised no objection when he went to one of the empty terminals and sat down. They assumed he was supposed to be here, doing whatever he was doing. Yagari had counted on that.

Yagari may not be all that chummy with technology, but there were certain things he knew how to do quite well, such as how to access the electronic database that held the all important lists naming those vampires whom the Hunters had marked for either execution or detention. Usually, he accessed them in order to retrieve data. Control of the lists was strictly restricted and there were only a handful of people in the Association administration who could modify those records. Yagari was not one of them. _However..._

Yagari resisted the urge to smile grimly as he quickly tapped his way through a series of familiar prompts. His guess had been a good one. The techs had the system in here torn apart as they attempted to run the back trace. All four terminals were logged in with full system access in order to aid in the process.

The one-eyed hunter accessed the main list database and did something he would have dreaded having to do under any other circumstances. He added Zero's name, along with the strict notation that he was to be detained _alive _for questioning.

He was going to have to remove it later. If for any reason he couldn't, then he would point it out as the work of the malicious intruder that had gained entry to their system and make sure it got removed that way. Since he was currently being mistrusted for showing too much favoritism towards Zero, few would suspect that he had anything to do with putting him on the lists. At least, that was his hope.

Just as Yagari finished the system bumped him out. For half a moment he was worried that he'd been detected, but then a message appeared on the screen telling him that another session had been initiated with his user ID from a different terminal and that he should contact the IT department if he had not initiated it or if the problem persisted.

Yagari stared pensively at the screen for a moment. Put into real-people-speak he guessed that meant that he had been logged out because someone else was accessing the list database at the same time through the same general admin account that the techs had left open on these machines. He glanced over at the techs' screens and saw it wasn't them. That meant that either someone else inside the Association was running a query from a secure terminal like he was, or it was the work of the unauthorized guest tapped into their system. There was no way for him to know which. He felt a cool chill run down his spine. He could only hope that the changes he had made had took before he was bumped out... and that whoever was viewing the lists wasn't in a position to know or spot that they had been tampered with.

Closing out of the screens he'd been using, Yagari pushed away from the terminal and rose. He tossed a nod to the techs and left. There was nothing more he could do here. It was all up to the three young hunters now.

* * *

"He's different with you in private than he is in public, isn't he?" Nasser opined. He liked the whole new level of fear and uncertainty he could see flaring behind Zero's slowly reddening eyes. "Oh don't be so surprised, I'm not an idiot. You wouldn't have dared speak to him the way you did during our meeting the other day if he was not incredibly indulgent with you."

Zero felt a zing of real panic, both at the way Nasser was manipulating his body and at his words. Kaname had repeatedly warned of Nasser's freakish ability to suss out truths that others wished hidden, but the way he so effortlessly picked up on the hunter's feelings for Kaname and this aspect of their relationship was hideously unnerving.

_Was this okay? Was it all right for him to have guessed this or were things starting to slide terribly off script? _Zero didn't know. After a certain point, the games they were playing went over his head and he _felt _rather uncomfortably like the blind pawn that Nasser obvious considered him to be. Yet he trusted the one for whom he played, so all he could do was hold fast and not give away anything that Nasser might not have already guessed. He was aware that another annoying pureblood trick was to _act _all knowing and lure you into revealing things because you thought they had already been discovered - to give you enough rope to hang yourself with and prod you skillfully into making the leap. _Not happening. _

Nasser let the silence drag uncomfortably for several long moments, the stillness broken only by Zero's pained, ragged breaths. Usually, people felt compelled to fill empty space, especially when they were as on edge as the hunter obviously was. Granted, they usually told more lies, but they were generally sloppier, more panicky lies that could give greater insight into the truth. Zero, however, seemed either too stubborn or too smart to fall into that trap. Apparently, he felt compelled to justify himself to no one and his silence told Nasser frustratingly little.

"He makes you feel like you're special, right? Like you mean something to him. He lets you do things to him that make you feel as if you're some kind of equal. You weren't being overzealous about your_ job_ the last time we met, you were _jealous, _weren't you? When you saw us kissing?" Nasser purred with a dark, self satisfied glitter in his eyes, intentionally pressing his victim for a reaction, even though he was already reasonably sure what it would be. His thumb traced Zero's bottom lip languidly. "Did you really think you were his only playmate? Trust me, you have no _idea _the things _I've _done with him." The look on Nasser's face suggested he was recalling said things in full-color detail.

On some level, Zero knew he was being provoked, but there was no fighting the absolute blaze of hatred and anger that seethed through him at Nasser's words and his expression. Zero had a _perfect _idea of _everything _this bastard had done to his lover and the sickening reel of memories flickered too easily to life in his mind. With a soft snarl and inhuman strength of will, Zero snapped at the lazy finger playing with his mouth lunged upwards towards the pureblood, despite how incredibly unadvisable that was in his position.

He didn't get far of course, he was much too wounded and Nasser had him far too trapped. The pureblood's hand tightened on his throat again in the space of a heartbeat, jamming him back into the wall in an almost calm and maddeningly disinterested manner - as if the bug he'd been torturing had simply tried to squirm out of turn.

Behind the apparent disinterest, Nasser actually quite enjoyed watching the flare of rage. It meant he'd hit a nerve. _Oh Kaname, I underestimated you. You have this one bound to you as securely as any thrall, but with all that delicious fire still intact, and he thinks it's all his own idea. Maybe you did learn something. _

"It's useless, you know," Nasser commented when Zero continued to fight his hold. "You _know _you can't get away from me. Just like you _know _deep down that Kuran is using you... but living creatures are so funny, aren't they? Is it optimism, or just a need for survival that keeps us fighting the inevitable?"

Zero spat at Nasser again since it was about all he could do besides pass out, which was a very attractive option at the moment except that he knew he'd probably never wake up again. At least the anger was helping him channel the unraveling aggression that was spreading through him due to his growing bloodlust.

"Don't group me into any category that i-includes _you!_" Zero hissed hoarsely at him, staring at the older vampire with unbridled hatred in his blazing eyes. "You think you know Kaname, but you don't know jack shit!" It was more than he'd meant to say, but his eyes had gone fully red by now, Nasser was all but crushing the life out of him and it was so very, very hard to think.

"Oh it's _Kaname _now, is it?" Nasser gave a condescending and amused smirk. "I guess we can stop pretending then that you hate him. You probably _should, _but you can't, can you? He's all you have. No one else would accept or trust a half-breed viper like you. Is that how it started? You owed him more than you could ever repay and he acted like you didn't need to. He showed you that little lost puppy dog look, made himself approachable... _vulnerable..._ and you _fell _for him. Isn't that the truth, Zero?"

Zero's insides seemed to be at war. His heart was trying to jam itself up into his throat while his stomach was sinking into the floor and the freaking vice clamp of need closing around his chest wasn't helping at all. His skin glistened with clammy perspiration. It scared him that Nasser could read or surmise so much about him so easily. Screwing up now was not an option. Kaname was depending on him... he could not, _would _not fail his lover, but he felt like he was drowning and wasn't sure which way was up anymore.

Nasser's thumb worried the un-tattooed side of Zero's bruised and bloodied throat, pressing where he could safely assume Kaname had no doubt bitten the ex-human many times. The way Zero squirmed and his eyes clenched shut at the contact confirmed the assumption.

"I think... you love him enough to come here to die for him." Nasser's eyes were dark and appraising. "It's almost sad really, I mean, you do realize you've been played, right?" he murmured. "He surely knew your past as well as I do. He knew how carefully you took care of that ailing brother of yours and that little girl you fell for at school. He knew the guilt and anger you carried over all you loved and lost. He knew you needed an outlet to vent your rage at the world and at our kind... and that you would ultimately be drawn to someone who _needed _you. He acts like he needs you a lot, doesn't he? Like no one else understands him. Did he let you hurt him, Zero? Let you use him in ways you never expected to want to use anyone? It felt _so _good, but then you hated yourself for liking it, felt guilty for letting the beast out... and felt more drawn to him than ever when he didn't hold it against you, right?" Nasser smiled. "The amusing thing, of course, is that he _likes _it when you hurt him. It's all part of the game. He deduced exactly what you would respond to and created the perfect persona to draw you in and secure your loyalty."

Nasser was devastatingly persuasive and he played well upon Zero's long ingrained mistrust of purebloods. A few years ago it probably would have worked. A few years ago, Zero would have doubted, would have wondered... but not now.

The young hunter gave a low, angry growl, about all he could manage for a moment around his raw vocal cords as his burning eyes fluttered open. The way Nasser seemed to look right into him and pull out things that no one had a right to know was chilling, but Nasser was an idiot because Zero knew in his heart that those were not Kaname's motivations.

Nasser saw the flash of fierce denial in Zero's eyes. _Interesting. Kaname's hold over the boy was incredibly strong. _He shook his head. "I don't expect you to believe me, naturally. You _should, _I've played that game more than enough to know what I'm talking about, but it's that survival instinct again, isn't it? The mind tries to protect itself from truth when it doesn't match our needs." He shrugged. "Living creatures have a tendency to believe that if they feel something, it must be real. And you feel a _lot _for Kuran, don't you? He makes you crazy. It _aches _when you're away from him. No one can make you feel like he does, right? It all feels so real, but trust me, _this..._" he pressed his thumb deeply into the sensitive spot, leaning on Zero with his pureblood pheromones and making the young hunter's body reel with familiar sensation. "Is just biology."

Zero arched unintentionally and Nasser's grin deepened. "As is this..." he murmured. Slowly and deliberately, he reached up with his free hand and drew one long nail across his own cheek. A thin, red line of blood welled in the brief moments before the slight wound closed itself. The pureblood grinned cruelly, knowing exactly the kind of torment that was going to cause. The crimson burn in Zero's eyes was obvious. While Nasser wouldn't dream of letting the ex-human get anywhere near his pure blood, the scent and having it so close and so out of reach was going to drive the younger vampire _crazy. _

Now in full bloodlust, Zero felt his gut respond to that tempting sight and scent far too strongly. The _craving _dug its claws in ruthlessly and he groaned softly, desperately, the sound choking into a whimper in his abused throat and making him feel hot with humiliation at his lack of control over his responses. He didn't want _Nasser, _he just wanted the blood. It was a need that couldn't be repressed... he knew, he'd tried for years.

Nasser's hair tumbled over his shoulders as he leaned over Zero, a dark curtain mixing with the swaying black spots tingeing the hunter's vision. "What is _truth, _Zero?" Nasser whispered. "Isn't the _truth _that you would rather believe the lie? I suppose I can understand that, given that you loved him enough to willingly come here to die for him."

"G-go to hell!" Zero croaked hoarsely, his extended, throbbing fangs making his rough tone lisp. He refused to let any of what Nasser said make it into his heart. On the surface it was an entirely plausible explanation, but Zero knew Kaname better than that.

He shifted feverishly against the wall in Nasser's grip, seemingly unaware or uncaring of how the motions made his wounds bleed more heavily. His body trembled and need was clawing his chest out. His eyes were glazed and he was breathing so hard it would have been easy to have called it pantingor, god forbid _whimpering, _but Nasser was actually quite surprised that his victim's reaction wasn't more stark. There should have been a lot more flailing and desperation. Zero should be ready to chew his own heart out just to get to him. In his experience, this was usually more than enough to push an ex-human in bloodlust over the edge of reason and into final madness.

Of course, Nasser didn't know that Zero had always been much more stubborn than your average ex-human... or that the boy was no stranger to the scent of pure blood. To Zero it was not the unfamiliar and forbidden smell that it was to most ex-humans, or most vampires of any lower class for that matter. It was Zero's usual meal, and while that intense familiarity made Zero a dozen times more susceptible to falling into desperate states of need for his lover's blood, it also dulled the appeal of all other blood to him. He still craved any blood and might drink it if he lost himself too far or the need was too great, but he wasn't nearly that far gone yet. He wantedNasser's blood badly, but right now only Kaname could have made him crazy, and Nasser was definitely _not _Kaname.

Nasser _did _know that Zero had spent most of his teenage years fighting his vampire transformation. Usually, people couldn't hold out that long, but looking at the boy now, he had no trouble believing it. The young hunter was freakishly strong willed to maintain this level of control and he almost had to respect that a trifle. It was the way one respected the rabbit in a snare that glared at you all the way up until you snapped its neck, but that was still a lot more notice than Nasser had given any ex-human in... well, _ever _actually.

Nasser's attention shifted for a moment, his eyes turning distant in the way that they do when one is listening to something. Zero couldn't hear anything other than the pounding in his own ears, but he recognized the look and somewhere in his hazy mind he assumed that Nasser was listening to something only audible to his sharp, pureblood hearing.

He assumed correctly.

Nasser's eyes refocused on his prey after a moment. "Well, and now the other shoe falls, hm?" he commented cryptically. A few moments later there was a knock at the door. The voice sounded somewhat ruffled or perhaps perturbed.

"Ardon-sama, there are several hunters here demanding access to the grounds. They insist they're on a sanctioned hunt for an escaped prisoner and have a right to search the grounds and even the house if necessary..." the bristle in the servant's voice was obvious. It was clear he wanted to send the hunters packing, but that wasn't his call.

Nasser glanced towards the door, then back at Zero over whom he was still crouching. It was clear he'd already pieced something together in his mind from the appraising look he gave the ex-human.

"If they're on a sanctioned hunt, then they do," Nasser replied in a mellifluous tone of voice which suggested that contrary to what he'd just said, they would not be doing anything he did not allow. "Who, pray tell are they hunting, and have you checked the validity of their claim?"

"Yes," the disembodied voice from the other side replied. "Their target is an ex-human named Zero Kiriyu. We have confirmed that there is a pending warrant for his detention within the hunter's database."

Zero managed to not show his surprise. Obviously, Nasser was still using his little electronic spies within the Association to look into their sensitive records and someone had used that very cleverly against him. Yagari, most likely - he was the only one who could have gotten that kind of access, although he hadn't said he was _actually_ going to get Zero onto the lists. That wasn't easy to do. Tampering with the lists carried the harshest of penalties. Zero had to hope and trust that his sensei was too smart to get caught.

Nasser, for his part, did not seem surprised at all. "His detention?" he asked innocently. "He wasn't on the kill list? How interesting. Well, if their hunt is legitimate, then you'd better let them do as they please. We don't want to break any of the laws in our lovely old treaty, now do we?"

"As you wish, Ardon-sama." The servant was too well trained to voice any feelings of disappointment over not being able to tell the hunters to get lost.

Nasser turned back to Zero. "I imagine they'll be here soon. No doubt you left a blood trail coming in that they'll be sure to see and want to follow, right?"

Despite the desperate burning in his chest, Zero felt ice congeal inside his veins. He was more terrified then he wanted to admit that Nasser had possibly figured the game out. Flatly refusing to act on his fear, he based his teeth at the older vampire. "Guess our little chat... is almost over then..." he gasped. It was getting incredibly difficult to speak and his voice was a mere rasp by now. "Good thing... I was getting so bored. Do you ever shut up?"

Nasser actually laughed, no longer quite so surprised by the boy's suicidal brashness. "You still want me to kill you that badly? Well, I'm sorry, but it's time to put an end to this little charade." He was wearing a satisfied grin again, one that held the pleased triumph of someone who has figured out a puzzle.

"That man you care about so much sent you here to die by my hand, didn't he? That's how this was supposed to go down."

Zero closed his eyes as the world began to spin nauseatingly out of focus. He felt a surge of relief, but that wasn't very helpful in his current condition. He hoped that Nasser would take the way his body went limp as a gesture of despair and defeat. "He sent me here to kill you," Zero murmured, stubborn but without much conviction. Ironically, it was almost the truth, but Nasser wouldn't believe him. At least, Zero hoped not.

"I'm sure that would have been an added benefit if it had been possible," Nasser conceded. "But _you_ were the real problem. You're nothing but a liability to him now. He can't keep you, but he can't let the Satos have you alive either, can he? You know far too much about him to fall into enemy hands. The same is true of the hunters, who also apparently want you alive. He went too far with you... in playing his little games, he's given you the real ability to do damage to him. You have to go, but if _he_ kills you, Diachi Sato will consider it a breach of their agreement, which Kaname cannot afford. The hunters _won't _kill you because they need you alive for a little while to disprove that they have been in any kind of collusion with Kuran. So that's where I come in, right?" Nasser squeezed Zero's throat harder and the young hunter's eyes struggled open again.

"Don't know... what the hell you're... talking about..." Zero mumbled. He was past being able to act, but he didn't have to try very hard. He was so lost to pain and blood lust that simply the unconvincing denial was enough to confirm the suspicions Nasser had formed. Zero understood now what Kaname had meant when he said that the best lie was simply the truth twisted into a different shape. Nasser had picked up on their relationship, but he saw it through his own bias and it fed into the carefully twisted shape of the "truth" that Kaname had built for Nasser to "discover".

"Of course you don't," Nasser said in a tone that implied otherwise. "It's just _coincidence _that you first allowed the hunters to take you, then escaped from them only to run right here with them on your heels. What kind of idiot escapes arrest only to run to the nearest house and try to murder someone rather than getting away while he has a chance?" Nasser was gloating now, rubbing Zero's face in his perceived failure to hide the truth.

"But those were your orders, weren't they? If _I _killed you after you ran from the hunters, Diachi couldn't be upset about that, could he? The hunters would make grand impartial witnesses after the fact. Both they and Kuran could use your illogical attack on me as proof that you were simply going mad. A crazed level E who has lost his reason and is going after everyone he perceives as a threat to his master makes a good scapegoat for all the recent bloodshed, right? So you become the martyr and dear Kaname gets what he wants. Really... it's fairly clever," Nasser nodded somewhat approvingly.

He knew that Diachi was weak enough to let himself fall for the ploy against his better judgment, even if only because in the long run he would benefit more from continued friendship with Kuran than from having enmity between them. Nasser had always know that would be the case, which was part of why Diachi was supposed to die, but of course that hadn't worked out as desired. The fact that Seiji had failed in eliminating his brother and delivering the truly devastating blow to Kaname's precarious position meant that if Kaname could simply manipulate Diachi sufficiently, the younger pureblood was very likely to weasel out of this trap all too efficiently.

Nasser was both pleased and chagrined at the same time. Pleased because he liked the challenge that these unpredictable twists were creating and chagrined because he didn't like his plans thwarted. He still had many plays to make, however, and having figured out what he perceived to be Kaname's ploy before it was too late gave him an advantage. Actually, the ploy itself pleased him. Imitation was a form of flattery, and from Nasser's point of view, Kaname offering his lover up as the sacrifice pawn was incredibly reminiscent of what he had done the first time he and Kaname battled over something. He wondered if Kaname realized the interesting symmetry of it.

The door across the room jerked open. Nasser had his back towards it, but he knew without turning that it was the two hunters who stood there. For one thing he'd heard and smelled their approach, for another, his own servants would never have dared to enter without permission. Nasser had only a moment in which to make his decision and commit to his new plan of action. There weren't that many truly attractive options, but he had to move, so he chose the path he felt held the most potential and smiled down at Zero. _"You lose," _he mouthed silently before glancing casually over his shoulder towards his uninvited guests.

Kaito had his rifle leveled warily, covering the two vampires as he took several measured steps into the room. Kio had frozen in the doorway. The room looked like a slaughter house. The cracked walls were splattered with blood, all of which probably belonged to Zero given the state in which he appeared to be and the frighteningly large crimson puddle that had formed beneath his body, around the crouching pureblood's feet.

One of Nasser's servants was in the hall, raising a fuss about the hunters bursting in on his Master like this. Kio finally snapped out of his initial reaction enough to turn and the vampire to stay back. His authoritativeness was dubious, but the menacing looking crossbow that he held helped a bit.

"Gentlemen," Nasser greeted them pleasantly, as if there were nothing at all disturbing about his blood splattered clothing or the fact that he'd looked like he was in the middle of slowly gutting the younger man on the floor. He rose gracefully, effortlessly pulling Zero up with him while keeping him pinned against the wall with one hand. Just as well, Zero could not have stood on his own by now. Nasser dragging him up by the throat was almost too much for his reeling body and the grey flashes crowding his vision darkened dangerously, reality seeming strange and distorted, like he was drunk or living in some kind of dream.

The muzzle of Kaito's gun shifted slightly, cautiously tracking Nasser's head. It was clear who he thought was the biggest threat at the moment, but that was only to be expected. The unemotional, hard-edged distaste in the hunter's eyes said that this wasn't his first dance. Blood and death were already old friends of his. The teenage hunter by the door was another story. The scene was obviously unsettling him. He was probably still an apprentice.

"I believe I found your escapee," Nasser said simply, flicking his arm and tossing Zero to the floor at Kaito's feet. "You should be more careful. It's really not my responsibility to clean up your mistakes."

Zero couldn't catch himself and the jar shocked painfully through his body as he hit the ground. His breath hissed between his teeth in a sharp little groan. He rolled onto his side and tried to push up onto his elbow but couldn't manage it.

Gun still trained on Nasser, Kaito glanced down at Zero and then back up at the pureblood without a flicker of emotion. "Don't believe we asked you to," he said flatly. "And I'll thank you not to interfere in our business."

Nasser chuckled, licking Zero's blood from his fingers with deliberate enjoyment. He did it just to irk the hunters, although the boy _was _surprisingly tasty for an ex-human. Nasser suspected that Kaname must occasionally give Zero blood to keep him stabilized, which would explain why he tasted so good. It was taboo of course, but it didn't particularly surprise Nasser. It had no doubt been part of how Kuran indebted the young hunter to him. That kind of gift was quite an effective Trojan horse, actually. As long as there was no biting involved then there was no personal risk to the giver and it could be very effective in subtly influencing and controlling those to whom it was given. It never even crossed Nasser's mind that Kaname would have been crazy enough to have ever let Zero drink from him directly, given the consequences.

"Your little convict broke into _my _house, gentlemen. You're lucky I saved any part of him for you. Now, kindly remove _it_ from my sight and take your leave," Nasser said smoothly.

"Kio, get him," Kaito jerked his head towards Zero, rifle now aimed so that it was covering both Nasser and Zero. He wasn't about to let his guard down for a moment, you never did on a hunt - real or not. "Cuff him _good _this time," he warned a bit tersely, giving the slight allusion that it might have been Kio's fault their 'prisoner' escaped to start with. That wasn't a difficult scenario to believe, Kaito was sure the pureblood had already pegged the boy as a greenhorn from his reaction to the gory room.

Kio returned his weapon to its sheath on his back and cautiously made his way to Zero's side. He hesitated, fumbling slightly with the charmed zip strips on his belt. He needed to get at the older boy's hands, but Zero looked so incredibly _awful _it was hard for him to contemplate moving him, or causing the additional pain that he knew cuffing him was going to cause.

Kaito smoothly kicked Zero onto his stomach, getting him into place for Kio, who he realized was not going to be able to do this without a little help. Fortunately, it just drove home his younger companion's probable incompetence. "_Now, _Kio," he hissed somewhat savagely. "I swear I am going to tell your master about this."

Kio blanched and paled visibly before he realized that Kaito's threat was part of the act. Flustered, his fingers trembled ever so slightly anyway as he quickly yanked one of the zip ties free and pulled Zero's arms behind his back. Crossing the injured hunter's wrists behind him, and trying not to cringe as Zero sucked his breath in sharply, Kio slipped the zip strip around both wrists and fed the tail end through the loop on the other side, pulling the steel-reinforced plastic cuffs closed tight. Pressing one hand flat over the binds, he invoked the charm which made them able to hold a vampire.

Zero lay limply on the floor. He was trying not to react to the painful motions above him because dimly, through the fog in his head, he knew Kio was having a hard time with this. However, he couldn't stifle the small cry of agony that was torn from him when he felt the burning jolt of the charmed cuffs activating, shooting fire through his already weak and battered body.

Kio jerked, starting back slightly when Zero cried out. Kaito cuffed the teen sharply upside the back of the head with one hand as if to rebuke him for being frightened. He knew the kid's problem wasn't fear, but the sharp smack and implied reprimand gave a reason for the glitter of tears that now showed in the younger boy's too expressive eyes.

Reaching down with a grunt of disgust, Kaito yanked the zip cuffs tighter so they dug painfully into Zero's wrists, wringing another sharp groan of pain from the ex-human on the floor. "Do _not _let him get to you," he growled at Kio. "Now get him up, we're out of here."

Zero clenched his eyes shut and struggled to not pass out or scream. He should probably try to fight a bit to make this even more believable, but the truth was he had nothing left to fight with, even had he seriously wanted to do so. Staying conscious was about all he could manage at this point, especially now that he had been cuffed.

Nasser watched as the apprentice hunter struggled to get the prisoner to his feet. The discord between the elder hunter and his inept younger partner amused him. "Perhaps I should have someone assistyou..." he offered with a condescending smile. "Give you an escort, so he doesn't escape again?"

Predictably, the elder hunter bristled and scowled. "We've got it, thanks. I told you to stay out of our business," Kaito growled discourteously, stooping to help Kio with Zero. Together they got the nearly unconscious ex-human upright and dragged him swiftly out of the room.

Nasser watched them leave, still smiling. It was going to be interesting to see Kaname try and work his way out of this situation now. Thanks to the implications that Nasser had been planting that Kaname and the hunters were in collusion, Diachi was not going to be at all pleased that Zero had somehow _conveniently _been arrested before Kaname could turn him over. It might not be enough on its own to re-fan the flames of the conflict he was trying to create between the two purebloods, but it was a start.

All Nasser needed was for Diachi to be upset enough to make his accusations public. Because Diachi was too prone to trying to find diplomatic solutions, time was not his friend in that goal. He needed to push hard and fast while Diachi was still unsettled by the recent death of his daughter and the attempt on his life. It wasn't enough at this point to level implications at Kaname. He needed Kaname to make a hostile move towards Diachi, no matter how small. To do that, Kaname was going to need another little push. Another reason to believe that Diachi was his enemy, working behind his back.

Nasser knew just how to arrange that. It was a risky gamble, but a calculated one.

He glanced around the ruined chambers and stepped out into the hall. Several of his servants were present. He nodded back towards the room. "Do something about the mess and prepare me new quarters," he ordered distractedly. "Also, get me in touch with the CEO of Benfari immediately, I need to speak with him about an important matter."

Diachi was trying to buy Benfari's Mission Oil stock as more leverage over Kaname. Nasser had had no intention of selling before, but now it might prove more interesting to allow it. He would of course have the contract carefully written in order to make it impossible for Diachi to sell it to anyone other than back to whom he had bought it from, so there was no risk of Kuran getting his hands on it. Nasser _not_ having it didn't significantly change his own position, so long as the stock's voting privileges were not used in Kaname's favor when the time came. Given current circumstances, it was highly unlikely that Diachi would be doing anything that benefited Kaname any time soon. Especially if the very fact that Diachi had acquired the stock could be used to provoke Kaname into taking action against him. Nasser intended to be sure that happened. Besides, the next voting session wasn't for another two months. Plenty of time for him to force a return sale of the stock through various means if it should prove necessary.

_What will you think, Kaname, if you find out that Diachi is buying Mission Oil stock behind your back? That I am _letting _him do so. How will you react if he appears to be in league with me, hm? Let's find out. _

* * *

There was a hunter prison van waiting for them on the main road. Zero was too out of it to wonder where it had come from. He grit his teeth as Kaito and Kio manhandled him into the back of the paddy wagon and pulled the doors shut behind them. There were bars on all the available windows and Zero knew the interior itself was charmed. Not that any of that was needed for him right now.

Once inside, his two hunter 'captors' lowered Zero to sit on one of the long benches that ran along either side of the van's interior. Their touch was more gentle now than before. Zero slumped against the back of the seat, unable to stay upright on his own.

Kaito knocked on the barred window that separated them from the driver. "Go," he said simply.

The driver looked back over her shoulder as if to confirm that Zero was on board before the idling engine shifted into gear and the van took off down the road.

Zero caught a glimpse of the driver when she turned and realized it was Seiren, her features obscured from outside the vehicle by the large hat she was wearing and the van's tinted windows. He was fairly sure this was probably the only time a vampire had driven one of the hunter's paddy wagons. Probably Kaname's doing, trust him to cover all the angles.

The van hit a small dip in the road and the jounce made Zero press his eyes shut with a wince. Unable to hold himself up or catch himself with his arms still bound, he listed dangerously sideways until Kio quickly caught him, sitting down beside the bloodied hunter and holding him to steady him.

Kaito crouched on the narrow slit of floor in front of Zero and Kaito. He'd retrieved a first aid kit from the storage locker under the opposite seat and he clicked it open quickly. "Kio, get the cuffs off him."

Kio was only too happy to oblige. It was tricky in the moving vehicle. The zip ties were slick with Zero's blood and Kio couldn't support the older hunter and get at them at the same time. His fingers kept slipping.

Kaito leaned forward and held Zero up carefully, freeing Kio to focus on the cuffs. Kio released the charm and cut the cuffs off quickly with the knife from his belt. "I'm sorry," Kio murmured, first to Zero, then again to Kaito. "I nearly blew it didn't I?"

Kaito shook his head as he leaned Zero's mostly limp body back against the wall, aware that he now had the younger hunter's blood all over him. Zero was bleeding heavily and it looked _bad. _"You did fine, Kio. Probably made everything that much more believable. I wasn't really upset, you know that, right?" he added distractedly as he quickly cut away what remained of Zero's shirt, pulling it open to get a look at the damage done to his body.

Kio looked as if maybe he hadn't been sure, but he seemed relieved now. "He looks awful..." he said softly, obviously speaking about Zero as his gaze fixed in worried horror on the raw, ugly gashes carved into the silver haired hunter's stomach, chest and shoulder, not to mention the purple black bruises mottling his throat and the blackened gunshot wound to his shoulder. There were tears in Kio's eyes again.

"He's lucky," Kaito said quietly as he pressed wadded bandages against Zero's bleeding wounds, trying to slow his disturbingly rapid exsanguination. "The bastard was just playing with him. You don't want to see what's left when a vampire _really _goes to town on someone."

Zero was floating in and out of consciousness. He groaned as Kaito pressed, firmly but as gently as possible, against his throbbing shoulder. His eyes fluttered open, his lips parted slightly in agony as he panted for air around the swelling in his throat.

Kaito jerked back out of instinct when he found himself suddenly confronted by the burning red in Zero's eyes and the distinct sight of the extended razor fangs glittering between his parted lips. In their profession you didn't usually get up close and personal with that sight and stay alive.

Kio was still beside Zero. He looked completely freaked out by the sight, but he didn't pull away or let go of the injured vampire. He continued holding onto Zero to keep him from falling as the car went into a turn. It was a testament both to the depths of the devotion that Kio held towards those he considered his friends and also a bit to his lack of experience in the field. He had not yet learned the kind of survival instinct that Kaito, Yagari and Zero had.

Kaito's hand had snapped instinctively to his weapon, but he stilled himself as it became clear that Zero was not making any threatening moves. The red eyes fixed on him and for the first time in his life Kaito saw something other than mindless hunger in the burning gaze. There was resigned sorrow and guilt in the vampire eyes before they were quickly pressed shut again.

Zero knew how he must look from Kaito's reaction. He did not blame the older boy for his caution. Zero was all too aware of the animal in his head at this moment. All too aware of the blood flowing through his companions' bodies and how it called to him like water to a parched man dying in the desert. Kio was so damn close, all Zero would have to do was turn his head... but no. No, no, no, _no. _Not happening. He just had to hold on. Kaname would feed him when he got home. He just had to hold out until then.

He knew the support Kio was showing him was dangerous for the boy, but he also kind of appreciated the vote of confidence. Zero clenched his eyes and pressed his mouth shut, trying to hide the signs he knew set off every hunter instinct there was. His body burned. He was in so much pain he felt nauseous. "'S'okay," he lisped hoarsely around bruised throat and aroused fangs. "I-I won't do an'thing. It's... under control," he murmured with effort, his chest heaving raggedly. His breath hitched. He hurt _so _badly.

"Shh, it's okay, we know," Kio soothed, sounding surprisingly more confident than usual now that he was focused on protecting and comforting someone. "We're gonna get you home and you'll be fine, Zero," he promised. Reaching over he grabbed a syringe out of the first aid kit. He had trouble getting it out of its sterile wrapper with one hand and held it out towards Kaito.

"Kaito-sensei... help me," he prodded softly. "He's in a lot of pain." Kio obviously wanted to give Zero a shot of some of the hyped up vampire-grade anesthetics they carried to help dull their companion's agony.

Kaito had his own demons to live with regarding ex-humans. He'd put the past behind him for the most part, but for some reason seeing those red eyes in Zero's face was like seeing his brother all over again. Kio's words brought him back to the present and he kicked himself for the childish lapse. He took the syringe from Kio and freed it from the plastic wrapping. Quickly and efficiently he filled it from one of the vials in the case and injected the contents into the vein in Zero's arm.

"Geez Louise, Zero, you're a real mess, you know?" he commented as he went back to bandaging the younger hunter up.

Zero relaxed a bit as the drugs started to take effect and as Kaito's tone told him that both his companions were accepting his current state a hell of a lot better than he'd expected. He smiled slightly at Kaito's turn of phrase. It was one of those odd expressions they had both picked up from Yagari.

"Yeah... but not... dead," he pointed out. "Guess it wasn't so... crazy after all, huh?"

Kaito rolled his eyes. "Just because it worked doesn't mean it wasn't completely insane. And now you _totally _owe me for the car. Be still, you're bleeding all over."

They were ostensibly heading back to the Hunter's Association with their prisoner, in case anyone was watching. Halfway there, however, there was a short tunnel bridge that passed beneath one of the larger hills rather than going over it.

Seiren pulled to an abrupt halt inside the tunnel. Kaito and Kio helped swiftly hustle Zero out of the back, supporting him between them. Through blurry vision, Zero saw that Yagari was waiting there for them. His sensei frowned deeply when he saw Zero, but the elder man also seemed relieved at least that he was alive.

"Shit, Zero," was all he said, but the softness in his voice and in his touch when he lightly ruffled his apprentice's hair said a lot more.

Zero struggled to smile at him. "Jus' a scratch," he mumbled. Yagari no longer reacted to his vampire eyes and teeth and he didn't have to hide them.

Yagari cupped his head gently for a moment in his rough, warm palm, then Seiren was beside them and he knew they had to move swiftly. They could not linger inside the tunnel too long or it would be suspicious. "Take care of him. Get him to Kuran, _fast,_" he ordered. Yagari knew _who_ and _what_ Zero needed right now.

He didn't wait for a response because he knew that everyone here was already on the same page. Closing the van doors he ran around to the front and hopped into the driver's seat vacated by Seiren. Trading his own hat for the one she'd been wearing, he gunned the engine of the paddy wagon and took off down the road. To any outside observer, it seemed that the van simply went into the tunnel and then out, continuing on towards HQ with no one the wiser that it was now sans occupants. It would never have done for Seiren to drive the borrowed van back to HQ, but Yagari could easily check it back in, have it cleaned, and then return to the tech lab and hopefully be able to back Zero out of the system before anyone was the wiser.

Kaito and Kio supported Zero between them while Seiren contacted one of her subordinates who was waiting nearby. A minute later another car entered the tunnel from the opposite direction and stopped just long enough for the hunters to hustle their companion into the backseat while Seiren got into the front beside the driver. Then they were off again, heading this time for Night Haven.

* * *

"Come, this way, there are guest rooms where you can bathe and change," Takuma said pleasantly, herding the two hunters out of Kaname's study. Kaito and Kio were both redolent with Zero's blood and he was sure that they didn't want to leave the house smelling like vampire bait or looking like they'd recently been murdering someone.

"We can wash your clothes or have new ones provided and I'll have the servants make refreshments for you," he added, comfortably sliding into host mode in order to take that burden from Kaname who was currently otherwise occupied.

The blonde glanced back over his shoulder with a small smile as the study door closed behind them, giving privacy to the incredibly relieved pureblood vampire and the injured ex-human he was clutching to him. Said ex-human was now rather urgently seeking the pureblood's neck. Kaname was too focused on Zero to care about anything else, but Takuma knew no one else should witness that scene, so he smoothly took charge of the two hunters who had brought Zero home and guided them off down the hall.

"Thank you for bringing Zero home safely. I'm sure Kaname will thank you as well as soon as he has... ah... seen to Zero's injuries," he said cheerfully. "Just let me know if you need anything."

Back in the study, Kaname was distractedly grateful to Takuma for taking charge of that matter, but his attention was on Zero. His lover was so battered and weak it tore his heart, but he knew he could fix this and he wasn't about to wait a moment longer.

Sitting down in the corner armchair, he gently pulled Zero down onto his lap, allowing the weakened hunter to straddle him and slump against his chest as Kaname pulled aside his already open collar and guided Zero's head to his throat.

Zero didn't need much guiding. He knew what he needed and he was in far too much pain to be shy. With weak, urgent movements he burrowed into Kaname's shoulder without shame. Sucking and licking the pale skin clumsily, he tried hard to be gentle before his fangs sank deeply into his lover's flesh and he started drinking with a soft, groaning whimper.

Kaname's heart shuddered and he wrapped his arms around his lover's back, holding Zero to him and stroking his abused body and matted hair as the younger vampire drank. He was so incredibly happy to be holding Zero in his arms like this that for the moment, he didn't even care whether or not the plan had worked. Zero was _alive _and that's what mattered most. He was almost dizzy with relief.

He could smell Nasser on Zero, the scent was distinct and much too familiar. It burned his insides, but he stopped himself from entertaining those thoughts when Zero shifted restlessly against him, apparently picking up on his emotions through his blood. With conscious effort, Kaname instead filled his mind with warm, comforting thoughts until Zero had had his fill.

Slumped against Kaname, drifting in that unique, hazy euphoria that came after large quantities of pure blood, Zero licked and kissed his lover's healing neck sluggishly. Zero's own body was mending slowly. Because of the hunter injury, it was going to take time to recover fully, but he was already much better than he had been. Blood euphoria mixed with the drugs Kaito had given him earlier meant that he was currently feeling very little pain at least. It also made him a little more groggy and loopy feeling than usual.

Zero suddenly realized that Kaname was murmuring soft apologies into his hair. He hadn't been quite lucid enough to notice before and he frowned. "Shut up," he mumbled. "I'm fine, I did this because I wanted to, and I'm too damn tired to argue you out of one of your moods," he slurred slightly. "Don't you want to know what happened?"

Kaname smiled at the typically Zero response and nodded.

Zero's eyes were contentedly closed, but he felt the motion against his cheek. "Well... I think it worked," he said, unable to repress a small smile as his eyes fluttered open. With effort he managed to lift his head and sit upright. He winced and pressed his arm across his aching body, clutching his shoulder and pressing his elbow against his tender gut. Still pleasantly numb for the most part, he looked more annoyed by his body's stiffness than anything else.

Kaname carefully slid his hands up Zero's back, helping support him under the pretence of shifting his embrace.

"You were right," Zero admitted. "He's a strong, smart bastard. He figured out that I... love you," he murmured, a troubled look flittering across his face. "But he seemed to think you were using me, so... I think that was all right?" the hunter appeared uncertain.

Kaname nodded, leaning forward and beginning to lick the blood from Zero's face and neck. Normally Zero would have reacted a bit uncomfortably to this cleaning method, but he was too fogged at the moment to think much about it. "Yes, Zero. I thought he might pick up on your feelings. Really... I counted on it," he admitted. The closer to the truth their deception ran, the more believable it was.

"Mm, okay, good," Zero murmured, unconsciously tipping his head to the side a little as Kaname licked his way down his neck and started tenderly sucking on the injured skin of his shoulder. "He bought the whole bit about you wanting me to die hook line and sinker." Zero's eyes fluttered shut and his fists closed in the shoulders of Kaname's shirt. What Kaname was doing felt so _good _in his current state. Not in an arousing sense, but in the way that a warm bath felt wonderful for aching muscles.

"Freaking idiot," Zero chuckled, his slightly tipsy mirth attesting to how hopped up he was on blood, painkillers and left over adrenaline. "I barely even had to lie to him, he just... just made it all up himself." He shook his head. It was just as Kaname had said.

Kaname understood Zero's state and found it rather endearing when he got like this. "I know," he murmured with a smile. "The only thing Nasser will believe is that which he himself comes up with." Only time would tell if this gambit had been worthwhile, but it had worked enough to get Zero out of there alive, and right now, Kaname thought that was enough.

There was a soft knock at the door. "Kaname-sama." It was Seiren's voice. "I just wanted to inform you that my sources report that Ardon-sama has just made contact with the head of Benfari Industries. I thought you would want to know."

Zero could swear there was the hint of a smile in her normally expressionless voice. There was no mistaking the smile that spread across Kaname's face. It wasn't final confirmation yet, but the timing was too perfect to be coincidental.

Zero actually laughed. Feeling rather uninhibited at the moment he kissed Kaname warmly, arms sliding behind the pureblood's neck. "You know what my dear, devious pureblood? I think we got him."

Kaname's grin deepened and he kissed Zero back deeply. He brushed Zero's hair back behind his ears, fingertips skimming his skin. He wondered at his own feelings in this moment. He was happy, but not in the way he would have expected. At this moment when the thrill of having gotten one up on Nasser for the first time in his life should have been all encompassing... all he could really think about was the wonderful man on his lap and how incredible it was to have someone this amazing so invested in his life. Win or lose, he was one lucky man. There was a perspective in that simple truth that he never wanted to lose. He knew it was something that Nasser would never understand and never possess.

"You know what?" Kaname returned, lips dancing softly against Zero's now in a string of butterfly kisses. "I think you're right."


	33. A New Wrinkle

_A/N: Finally, another chapter! I apologize in advance, it is severely un-proofed and possibly sucky. I just finished typing it and am putting it up before I have to run. Sorry! Hopefully it's not too bad. My muse is still pretty MIA, but I'm struggling along without her. _

_As this chapter suggests, there's at least one or two more twists to get in before the end, but the answers are just about to all come together now too. :) The story probably only has about three or four more chapters left to go. Well, seeing as how long and sprawling they keep ending up it could be more, but not a lot more. _

_Thanks for sticking with me and for all your wonderful, WONDERFUL reviews. I know I've said it before and I will probably say it again but you all are the BEST. Truly! *big hugs* You make me smile, kindle my inspiration and keep me writing even when I otherwise wouldn't feel like it. Thank you. :)_

**Chapter Thirty-Three: "A New Wrinkle"**

"This had better be important." Nasser's smooth, silky voice was eerily pleasant, making it much more frightening then if he'd simply sounded annoyed at having been woken a good many hours earlier than was his habit.

His servant, Rin, bowed deeply. "I'm very sorry, Ardon-sama, but I believe you will want to take this call. It is from Prince Sayyar and he insists it is a matter of great importance." Rin had been with Nasser his whole life, plenty long enough to know that however much trouble he may get into for waking the pureblood at this ungodly hour, it was a damn sight less then he'd be in if he was in any way responsible for obstructing a possibly vital development in one of his master's business affairs. Servants more useful than him had been killed for less.

Nasser frowned and rolled out of bed, holding out his hand for the phone. Sometimes he loathed the evolution of technology. It was a very useful tool and all that, but when people in other places had to ride for days on horseback or fly all night via shade form in order to disturb your sleep at some unforgiveable hour of the day, one tended to suffer fewer annoying intrusions.

The ironic part was that given the time difference between here and An'swala, the prince was himself probably up in the middle of his sleep cycle just to take care of business when it was presumably more convenient for Orion's CEO. Of course, the stupid little human didn't know he was a vampire and that office hours were a _lousy_ time to be calling.

Nasser's mood did not improve during the course of his brief phone conversation. To the contrary, it darkened to the point that Rin obviously would have liked to run if he thought he could have survived leaving before he was dismissed.

Nasser punched the button to hang the phone up rather more savagely than was necessary, seeming to regret the fact that the phone was cordless and there was no convenient base to slam it down onto. He had more control then to fling the phone, but Rin took it back quickly as if thinking that were a possibility and not wishing to be the target.

"Get out," Nasser snapped simply, sitting silently on the edge of the bed, gripping the edge of the mattress on either side of him with barely suppressed rage. He felt incensed and grudgingly pleased all at the same time, although the former was momentarily holding greater influence.

_He'd been played. __**Him. **__How had he let this happen?_

The prince had called in person as a courtesy to inform Nasser that he had gathered his ministers and they were calling an emergency voting session of the Mission Oil board of directors and shareholders that would convene in about three hours. All foreign shareholders were being invited to conference in for the session.

The notice was far too short to be legal in most countries and there shouldn't have _been _a voting session for another month yet, but Sayyar was the acting head of state and the conventions of his little kingdom were fairly liberal when it came to allowing rulers to circumvent or make new laws when it suited them. In this case however, Sayyar didn't even have to stretch his authority like that. As a member of the royal family, the prince had the hereditary right to demand an emergency voting session for any An'swalan based business interest in which the royal family owned a share if it was deemed in the best interests of the country's security. Given the current chaos in An'swala, pretty much anything could qualify as a matter of national security, especially anything to do with Mission Oil.

The method of calling the vote wasn't what upset Nasser, however... it was what it _meant _that set his teeth on edge. Kaname's hand was clearly in this. There was _no _reason for the Prince to be calling this session with the way things had stood before. Deadlock would have been the only result, it was pointless. Something had obviously changed, and Nasser did not for a moment suppose that it was some kind of coincidence that he was getting this call not even 24 hours after the papers had been signed which turned over a small chunk of his stock to Diachi Sato.

No, not a coincidence. He was plenty smart enough to instantly read the writing on the wall. Kaname and that half-breed whelp of his had played him, and Diachi had been part of the plan. If Diachi exorcised the privileged weight of those priority shares properly and cast his lot with Kaname's when the vote went down in a few hours, as he surely would, then Mission Oil was going to stay in An'swala. They would win by an _incredibly _slim margin, but no matter how slim it was the fact remained that Nasser was going to _lose_ and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. Oh, there was plenty he could do for revenge, plenty of trouble he could yet cause Kaname - but Mission Oil was a lost cause. He was smart and calculating enough to know that. Sometimes you just had to know when to cut your losses and try a new tact.

Kaname had taken this one, and masterfully at that. If he hadn't been quite so pissed off right now, Nasser would have felt pleased by the younger pureblood's unexpected cleverness. He was slightly proud of Kaname in an odd way, even as he plotted comeuppance. After all, furious as he was, Nasser knew he had no one to blame for being tricked but himself. You were only as foolish as you let others make you. Nasser wasn't one to tolerate shifting the blame because doing so was simply how fools deluded themselves and _stayed_ fools. Being smart meant understanding your failures, not pretending they were someone else's fault in order to assuage your ego. Failures for him were rare indeed these days and it made him livid, with himself as much as Kaname. He'd underestimated his young opponent despite knowing he shouldn't, and it cost him. He would not do that again.

Anyway, Kaname may have won this little skirmish... but he wasn't even aware of the larger board they were all actually playing on. That thought was a slight consolation, although Nasser was going to need to take quick action to be sure things remained that way. Kaname was already much too close now to the _real_ heart of this whole matter and he was obviously more dangerous than Nasser had been giving him credit for, despite his youth.

"Rin," Nasser called out to his servant right as the man reached the doorway. "Get everything set up for a teleconference at four." He had to attend the vote and play that little farce out, despite knowing how it was going to go down. The world was soon going to be watching. His cold gaze was speculative, mind already racing ahead and calculating possibilities and contingencies. "Then contact Mikhail in An'swala. Tell him to mobilize his assets and shut things down, it's time to pull out." Nasser's gaze dark and emotionless as it met Rin's. "Tell him to burn it to the ground."

* * *

"Hey, looks like sleeping beauty is finally waking up..." a familiar voice prodded at Aido's groggy consciousness as bleary blue eyes blinked slowly open, the world swimming around him in hazy shades of cream, umber and swaying silver. He felt like... well, no, he didn't really have a comparison for how he felt because even the one time he'd gotten spectacularly drunk, his head hadn't hurt this badly afterwards.

He realized after a moment that the umber slashes were pillars on the huge four-poster bed in which he lay and the hazy cream were the walls of what he was beginning to recognize was one of the guest bedrooms in Night Haven. The bobbing silver was the hair of the person bending over him with a hand pressed to his forehead as if checking his temperature and trying to catch his vacant, wandering attention.

It was Akatsuki who had spoken, Aido finally decided after a long moment of trying to get his brain go process his surroundings. He wasn't in Aido's line of sight, but it had to be him, because that was his voice. Following the same logic, it was Zero currently bending over him and checking his temperature because that was Zero's hair, and Zero's hair wasn't any more likely to go somewhere without him then Kain's voice was. That made perfect sense when Aido thought it, but he had the vague notion that there was something ridiculous about it somehow.

The silver fringe swayed closer, the second familiar voice speaking words Aido only partially understood. What he did understand was the proximity of the body bending over him. Something inside the semi-conscious vampire thrilled with awareness. The scent of citrus soap and Kaname mingled with the hunter's own unique smell and Aido inhaled deeply, instinctively. Zero was close... too close. So close that Aido could hear the blood rushing through his veins, making the groggy, recovering noble's mouth literally water and his fangs throb.

Instinct was pushing the blonde to make a move... to... Aido winced, his head throbbing painfully. _No... no something wasn't right... he mustn't go with his instincts, there was some reason he shouldn't, he needed to remember it and remember it right now!_ With effort, Aido slammed the brakes on his growing reaction as best he could, lucidity catching up with him reluctantly and reminding him that Zero was very, _very _off limits, not only because of Aido's illness, but because the ex-human's blood and everything else belonged to a certain someone.

Aido felt a sudden tension blossom in his aching mind. _Crap! _He'd already taken Zero's blood back in the lab, hadn't he? He shouldn't have... but... but wait, Kaname was there, so it had to have been okay, right? He wouldn't be alive if it wasn't okay, right? _God... he didn't remember. _Everything that happened after his fight with the assassin was blurry and more troubling was the fact that he was still being strongly drawn to the person bending over him. Zero's taste was disturbingly fresh in his mind and having him so close made the younger vampire want to taste him again, despite himself. _You're just messed up and thirsty, that's all... _he told himself in a mild panic when he realized how _deep_ was the thread of desire that had just pulled through him.

Zero frowned in concern when Aido's glassy, vacant eyes seemed to glaze with something like fear and the younger vampire's chest started rising and falling more rapidly, threatening hyperventilation. Thinking Aido wasn't fully conscious and was perhaps still trapped in the lingering nightmare of his near death experience in his lab, Zero cupped the blonde's cheek in his hand, giving him a little shake. He would have taken Aido by the shoulder except that the noble's bare chest and shoulders were swathed in bandages and Zero wasn't sure how much damage the white wrappings may still conceal. Aido was healing very slowly.

Aido's heart rate increased as a hot, heavy knot of need sunk into the pit of his stomach, diffusing warmly through his body and not helping his bleary, keyed up condition. Zero's hand on his face was too warm. He liked it too much. Zero was just a friend. A _friend._ A _good _friend he didn't want to freak out, damn it! It wouldn't have been such a big deal for him usually, but Aido was not fully in control yet and he knew it. He was simply not processing what he was feeling very well right now and everything a hundred times harder than it should be. He turned his head slightly into Zero's touch. _Please stop, you don't know what you're doing to me... _

"Come on, snap out of it," Zero prodded gently, trying to bring Aido fully around. "Hey, _sleeping beauty,_" he tried again when Aido didn't respond, teasingly picking up on Kain's words from a moment before. "You waiting for someone to kiss you to wake up?" the young hunter taunted, trying to hide his concern. Aido's rising body temperature worried Zero and he wondered if they should call for the doctor again.

His words finally got a reaction and Aido's blue eyes shot to him. There was a glitter of something Zero didn't understand in them for a moment before they finally seemed to clear and really focus on the hunter for the first time.

Aido blinked sluggishly, struggling to gather the scattered bits of his reason and common sense. "Not if _you're _volunteering..." he rasped, throat unexpectedly scratchy and sore from disuse. His voice was weak, but there was a hint of his usual spark in it again. His eyes fluttered closed for a moment as if he were exhausted despite how long he'd been asleep. His throat worked, swallowing hard several times. "Sooner kiss a frog," he muttered. Usually he would have meant it, right now... not so much, but he _did not _want Zero to know that.

Zero and Kain both chuckled, relieved that Aido seemed to be waking up enough to be a wiseass again.

"Ya know... it's the _princesses_ who kiss the frogs, Hana..." Kain teased his cousin softly, smoothing the perspiration damp covers over Aido's chest and brushing tangled hair back from the younger vampire's brow.

Aido peeked one eye open. "Shut up. Can't you see I'm half dead here? Show some sympathy." His head still hurt like hell, but his memory was starting to return the longer he was awake. More particulars about what had happened in his lab were coming back to him now, easing his fears, if not his desire. Zero wasn't bending over or touching him anymore, but Aido was still hyper aware of his presence and it was freaking embarrassing as hell. He didn't know why he was fixating on Zero, and not Kain who was also in the room. He hoped it was just because their relationship made it hard to think of Kain in _that _way and Zero was the most recent taste in his mind. Any other possible explanations were way too awkward and he didn't want to go there. He was thirsty, so terribly thirsty it was making it almost impossible to think. _His head and his chest were throbbing..._

"Hanabusa?" it was Zero's voice again, dragging him back from wherever it was he hadn't realized he was going. Aido's eyes blinked open slowly. There was a warm, dark, languid heat unspooling slowly through the young noble's awareness like thick, liquid molasses. Aido only now recognized it for what it was and with a thrill of alarm he realized he couldn't seem to make it stop. _Shit. _

Zero was looking at Aido with concern once more, along with a certain measure of prudent wariness as he recognized the feeling rolling off the injured vampire. He didn't need to see the film of red creeping into Aido's blue eyes when they opened to realize that his friend was vamping out. Flushed, bruised and bleary-eyed, Aido had looked like hell when he first woke up, but that had abruptly, if subtly changed. His physical appearance didn't actually shift, but somehow Zero's perception of it did, radically. Aido's flushed weakness became attractive, as if signaling a desire for passion. Instead of simply looking worn and beat up, the bruises on his face seemed suddenly like an invitation. _Don't you want to mark me too? Don't you want to use me? Come closer... _

Zero blinked in shock, trying to clear away the incredibly weird and disturbing image, and the equally disturbing and unexpected reaction which it pulled from him. He knew what was happening. Zero lived with a pureblood, he knew all about how the hormones a vampire put off could affect the way you saw them. Aido was vamping out and it was the young noble's aura and pheromones that had changed, triggering his altered perception of his friend. Vampires could do this intentionally, but Zero was pretty damn sure that Aido wasn't. The warning tingling in Zero's hunter senses told him that hunger was what was triggering it. In his condition, Aido may not even be _aware_ of the seductive vibes he was giving off. Under some circumstances, the beginning stages of blood lust could hit born vampires differently than ex-humans. Their predator instincts kicked to a new level, making them became increasingly sexy and dangerously tempting, nature's way of luring their prey to them to solve the problem of their need. Zero had been taught about that, he had just never seen it happen right in front of him to someone he _knew_. It was probably because Aido was weak and in less control than usual.

"Kain?" Zero said softly, his gaze shooting to the other vampire to see if he had this, or if Zero needed to do something. Zero caught sight of an agonized glimmer in Aido's reddening eyes and realized that Aido _was_ both conscious of and mortified over his slipping control. The blonde's throat was working hard again but he couldn't seem to make any sound come out, mouthing the word "_sorry" _with a miserable, embarrassed expression that only made him more vulnerably alluring. He knew the kind of aura his hungry, hurting body was projecting, couldn't make it stop and it humiliated the hell out of him.

"Hey, it's okay. Not your fault. I'm sorry, I didn't realize," Zero felt compelled to reassure. He was quite unsettled by the reactions that Aido's state was causing in him, but he didn't show it. This wasn't Aido's fault. He suspected that the younger vampire had been trying _not_ to vamp out since he woke up and was now slowly failing. He knew what that kind of struggle could be like and he should have expected it, given Aido's condition.

It was weird to realize that he didn't want Aido to feel bad about something he couldn't control. _Since when had he felt that way? When had a vampire's need for blood and the instincts that let them do almost anything to get it started to seem okay to him? _It was a disturbing thought for a hunter, and yet seeing Aido like this and knowing everything his friend had been through, he just... he couldn't feel anything but worried and protective. It was a moral quandary he was going to have to work out another day, right now he wasn't a hunter and Aido wasn't a vampire, they were just friends, and he wanted his friend to be okay. That couldn't be wrong, could it?

Kain needed no prompting and had already climbed onto the bed with Aido. He settled protectively next to his cousin, pressing his nails into his wrist. He understood what was happening and it wasn't at all surprising or disturbing to him. His cousin's need and his instinctive reaction to it was quite natural. Part of the reason he'd remained close by the whole time Aido was unconscious was so that there would be someone here to feed him when he woke.

Of course, the amusingly unfortunate target Aido had latched onto was going to be fodder for Kain to tease him with for the next few hundred years or so. _"Kiryu? Oh Hanabusa, you do realize how much grief I'm going to give you over this when you're better..." _Kain thought fondly. Considering the fact that Zero's cheeks were just a little pink, but he wasn't otherwise reacting, Kain guessed that the ex-human _probably _didn't realize that in vampire terms Aido had essentially just propositioned him.

Of course, it would be more amusing if it wasn't an indication of how badly his cousin was doing. Also, Kain wasn't particularly happy about the way Aido's vamp-out state seemed to invite abuse. He knew Aido was perfectly safe with Zero, who would never take advantage of a friend no matter how open the invitation, but if he had been with someone else... it kindled all of the older vampire's protective instincts.

"You'll be okay, Hana. It'll feel better soon," he murmured, his voice tranquil and authoritative now, seeming to have a calming effect on Aido. "Zero, can you hand me that please?"

Zero quickly handed Kain the cup on the nightstand to which he was pointing and watched as the tall red-head quietly and efficiently slit his own wrist almost to the bone, bleeding rapidly into the cup while somehow managing to not make a mess or get the blood anywhere else.

Zero had to admit that he appreciated and occasionally admired Kain's calm reliability and responsible nature. The tall vampire was dependable and level-headed. Zero didn't wonder that Kaname was maneuvering Kain into a position of increasing influence within his syndeo. Back in school people had sometimes called Kain his right hand man and Kaname was making good on keeping that true within the growing sphere of his larger influence as well. Aido too, of course, but Kaname was good at seeing where people were the happiest and most useful. The cousins had different skills, although when they were together they both complimented and balanced one another. Aido needed Kain's steadying influence to balance his vibrant personality and Kain needed Aido's fire to prod him into action when the time was right.

After a moment Zero had to close his eyes and look away because the sight and smell of blood, on top of Aido's stirred up hormones, were starting to affect him. He'd fed very well from Kaname not more than a few hours ago and he wasn't in need, but he was a vampire and the scent of blood sent a twinge through him whether he was hungry or not.

Of course, his reaction was mild compared to Aido's. Aido groaned, shifting on the bed and clutching his chest, obviously forcing himself to lie still and not go for his cousin's bleeding wrist directly. He would _never _risk infecting Kain like that, he would die first. Kain pressed the cup into his shaking hands and helped Aido drink. Aido downed it in a few gulps and Kain slit his already healing wrist open again to pour a second helping.

By the third cup, Aido was beginning to feel much better and the tenseness in his body relaxed, allowing him to slump back against the pillows and breathe easier. He was also able to feel _completely_ embarrassed about the way he'd behaved a few minutes ago even though it really had been out of his control. _Geez, what had he been thinking? Zero? Please, please, __**please **__tell me he doesn't understand what just happened. _Occasionally Zero's lack of knowledge about the subtleties of vampire life was a good thing.

Kain let Aido settle back against the pillows, gratified to see the blue return to his eyes and a more healthy color beginning to creep across his bruised features. He turned and found that Zero was standing beside him, quietly holding out a glass of water. Kain smiled, having been about to go in search of one. He pulled his pillbox from his pocket and dumped a sizable handful of blood tablets into the water, swirling the water as it swiftly turned crimson before downing it in a couple of droughts. He'd given Aido a fairly sizable infusion and he felt it, but he was fine and this helped take the edge off.

Zero looked to Aido but the blond flushed and studiously looked away, too embarrassed to meet his gaze. Picking up the bloody cup Kain had used to feed his cousin, Zero took it into the bathroom to wash it out, using the pretext to give Aido some space.

Zero glanced in the mirror as he rinsed out the cup and saw that Kain was sitting next to Aido again, stroking his hair, and it looked like the younger vampire was slowly beginning to collecting himself. A faint smile touched the hunter's lips. The way Kain took care of Aido reminded Zero a little of the way Kaname had been with him since he returned from his mission to Nasser's house. Kaname had been very tender and concerned for his welfare. He kept trying to feed Zero his blood until the hunter finally had to protest that he was too full and couldn't take anymore. Not true of course, he could never be _too full _of Kaname's blood, but he didn't want the pureblood would pass out from the strain of trying to heal him too fast... again.

Zero gazed thoughtfully at the water flowing out of the faucet and over the cup he was washing, his thoughts slipping away for a moment.

_Water ran from the large faucet, making a pleasant sound as it filled the huge bathtub in Zero's bathroom. Kaname twisted the water off with one hand and then carefully helped Zero immerse himself in the bath, supporting him as the hunter hissed in pain when the water touched his healing injuries. They were both naked to facilitate the process, but for once Kaname wasn't trying to seduce him. Zero was healing slowly due to the gunshot wound to his shoulder and Kaname was worried. Nasser had done a real number on him, breaking almost all his ribs, a collarbone and a cheekbone among other trifles as well as nearly crushing his larynx. Most worrisome to Kaname were the wounds that had been carved into Zero's abdomen, Nasser having mucked about in there far too much, barely stopping shy of disemboweling the ex-human. Those injuries would have eventually killed him without the intervention of either major surgery, or more conveniently, Kaname's blood. _

_Fortunately, Kaname's blood and Zero's natural strength were already helping because the wounds were closed enough to protect Zero's vitals and make the bath a safe idea. Inside he was still healing, and outside the cuts and gouges were raw and red, but his body had already sealed off the penetrating damage. _

_Zero leaned back against the edge of the tub, feeling dizzy, and Kaname washed him down gently, wiping away the caked and drying blood. Zero sighed softly, it felt really good to be clean, and Kaname's touch was incredibly soothing. Once that was done, Kaname shifted Zero around, so that the hunter's back rested against his chest and he washed his lover's hair, letting Zero rest against him as he massaged the suds gently into the soft silver strands. _

_The young pureblood felt his chest ease slightly when the citrus smell of Zero's shampoo finally erased the last of Nasser's scent, which had been clinging to his body. Kaname suddenly realized Zero had tilted his head back and was looking up at him with a quiet expression that suggested the hunter knew exactly what his lover was thinking and _why_ Kaname was working the warm suds into his hair so thoroughly. Kaname felt a small flush of guilt and dipped his head. He just wanted to take care of Zero, ease his pain, make him clean... but he had to admit he'd also been desperate to wash all trace of Nasser off of him. Smelling Nasser on Zero kindled every possessive, jealous, protective instinct Kaname had and it had been difficult to suppress that in order to not let those feelings bleed through to Zero. _

_Zero shifted in his arms. Reaching up, he gripped Kaname's chin with wet fingers and tipped his face back towards him. The hunter's smile was soft and understanding. "I don't smell like him anymore, right?" he murmured. His own senses were too dulled still to be able to tell. _

_Kaname nodded guiltily, still feeling ashamed that something so silly bothered him so much. _

_"Good," Zero's smile turned wry. "I certainly don't want to go around smelling like that jerk. Ew. Would have all the trash collectors chasing me." He gave a mock shiver. It was a ridiculous statement, but it seemed to break the tension Kaname was feeling. The pureblood laughed, which was what Zero wanted. _

_Kaname finished washing his hair with expert fingers that would have made any salon stylist jealous and Zero relaxed into the pleasant sensation. Kaname was doing more than washing the suds from his hair and he knew it. Kaname was using every moment of physical contact with Zero to consciously pour those insidiously lovely, and at the moment totally welcome feel-good pureblood vibes into his body. By the time his hair had been completely rinsed Zero felt boneless from the blissful lack of pain and the familiar, warm, drunken complacency that had seeped through every fiber of his being. _

_He felt Kaname's body brush and press against him as Kaname turned him around so they were facing one another. Zero wasn't sure what Kaname was doing, but his arms wrapped around the other body instinctually, nuzzling Kaname's neck and kissing him, sliding onto Kaname's lap under the water and trailing his fingers through his lover's hair. He wasn't really trying to start anything, but he wanted to be close to Kaname, to feel his nearness. _

_Kaname kissed Zero back softly and stroked his back, making conscious and very difficult effort to keep the situation from progressing down the path it would normally follow when he found a very naked, very wet, very drunk Zero sitting on his lap and kissing him. He knew that Zero was feeling no pain now thanks to his efforts, but even if he didn't feel it, the boy's body was still seriously injured. Kaname would be doing him no favors if they tried to make love right now. Zero's gut and insides were too raw, he doubted that the inevitable muscle spasms accompanying orgasm would be at all good for him. Instead, he guided Zero's head to his neck, urging him to drink. In a highly pliable state and content as long as he was doing something that let him be close to his lover, Zero sank his fangs into Kaname's neck softly, like a warm, adoring kiss. Kaname's taste was heaven and the connection that it gave them felt like it fairly glowed with the warmth of the love on both sides. Zero feel incredibly wonderful and he drank slowly and tenderly for quite a while. _

_Eventually he stopped, kissing and licking the small puncture wounds, but Kaname drew him back with warm, coaxing hands, wanting him to take more. Zero complied with a blissful groan, leaning forward as Kaname leaned back against the edge of the tub. The pureblood's dark head tipped back against the rim, baring his neck and letting the tub support them. He wrapped his arms contentedly around Zero's back, giving a small shiver of deep, intense pleasure as the hunter's fangs sank into him again._

_Zero gripped the tub edge on either side of Kaname at first, then eventually slid his arms down under the water and let them curl against his lover's sides. He drank for what felt like a long time. It was a slow, gradual infusion because he wasn't exactly hungry, it was just... it was so good... and his mind was too contentedly blitzed to possess his usual restraint. Kaname was counting on that and had deliberately eased Zero into his current state a little more deeply than he needed to be just to sooth his pain. He knew it was the only way to get Zero to take this much from him in one feeding. Sober, Zero was too consciences and responsible a lover to allow himself what he needed right now, even when Kaname was offering it gladly. As it was, Zero would try to raise his head every now and again, sated, but Kaname's gentle grip would pull him back, the pureblood moaning softly and begging Zero for more in completely irresistible tones. Willing to do anything to make his lover happy, Zero complied. _

_The hunter wasn't sure how long this went on. It seemed like a pleasurable eternity. The large, ornate tub was self-heating, so the water never got cold or uncomfortable and it was impossible to gauge the passage of time in that manner. Zero drifted pleasantly in and out of consciousness, drinking, sleeping, waking, drinking some more, safe in Kaname's arms, surrounded by the lovely, familiar sound of his lover's heartbeat and gentle voice. _

_It wasn't until hours later that Zero's head cleared just enough for him to begin wondering how long they'd been doing this. It was about that time he realized Kaname's body was completely slack under him, the pureblood peacefully unconscious. He was incredibly pale but had a faint smile on his lips. Zero panicked for a moment when he realized just how much he'd been feeding. He shook the pureblood, calling his name, but Kaname wouldn't wake up. Zero could still feel the heartbeat against his chest, however and knew Kaname was all right, just unconscious from having given too much in too short a time. _

_"Stupid idiot," Zero muttered reproachfully, realizing now that Kaname had intentionally gotten him sugared so that this would happen. Zero knew he should get up, carry Kaname out of the tub and get him to bed... but Zero had been through quite an ordeal. The massive amount of pure blood in his system was helping a lot and his messed up body seemed to want to shut down to let it work more effectively. He felt very, very sleepy. Moving seemed impossibly hard, and the bath was really comfortable. He curled his arms tighter around Kaname, laying protectively atop him as if to keep his lover warm and safe as his head drifted to rest on the pureblood's shoulder and sleep claimed him once more before he even realized it was reaching for him. _

_Kaname must have awoken at some point, because the next thing Zero remembered was being lifted out of the tub and dried off. Then he was in his soft, cool bed. He stirred, worried, reaching... until Kaname's body pressed against his, reassuring in its presence and he was able relax again, curling into the waiting arms and falling back asleep. _

_Zero wasn't sure whether his body had just shut down naturally in order to heal, or whether Kaname had 'kept' him asleep, but he'd been out for over 24 hours after that. Kaname had appeared by the time he'd woken of course, but Zero still felt rather inclined to punch him for what he'd done. He found he couldn't though, not with Kaname looking at him all earnestly worried and kissing him in that way that said he thought the hunter was the most precious thing in the entire world. Sweet, manipulative bastard. Kaname actually insisted that Zero drink __**again**__ and wouldn't let up until he finally consented. _

_Zero knew it hurt Kaname to see Nasser's injuries lingering on his body. He knew that his lover felt responsible for getting him hurt, and that Kaname really needed to feel like he could erase it all away in order to have peace. __**That**__ was the only reason Zero reluctantly consented to taking more blood from him, but he finally had to plead "too full" in order to get Kaname to stop pressing. He was really, truly __**fine **__and Kaname seriously needed to chill. A lot had happened while Zero was unconscious and the tired pureblood had filled him in before finally drifting off to sleep beside Zero on top of the covers with his head on Zero's shoulder. Zero had stayed that way for a while before eventually sliding out and settling his lover's head carefully on a pillow. Proving how tired he really was, Kaname didn't stir and Zero pulled the free end of the covers over his slumbering body. Leaving his lover resting peacefully, Zero had gotten some much needed food of the solid variety before coming to check on Aido and Kain. _

Zero turned off the faucet, drying the cup with a hand towel and setting it aside. He touched his shoulder lightly with his fingertips through his t-shirt, rotating it carefully and feeling the ache inside. He was much better now, with just a lingering ache in his shoulder and gut. He had no visible wounds anymore, so he hoped when Kaname woke up the pureblood would accept that he was okay and quit worrying. Kaname was annoyingly mother-hen-like when he was worried.

"I said _shut up_!" Aido's not-so-quiet hiss from the other room drew Zero's attention back to the present. "It's _not _like that, it wasn't intentional!"

"I don't know, I think you're holding out on me. You're just lucky Kaname wasn't around..." Kain's soft voice was teasing but gentle.

"Oh my god... shut up..." Aido groaned. "You can't _ever_ tell him..."

Zero came out of the bathroom, glancing towards the two cousins on the bed who instantly stopped talking when he appeared. "Tell who, what?" he asked innocently, knowing perfectly well what they were talking about but preferring to play dumb and let them think he didn't.

The look that Aido and Kain shared was priceless. "Nothing," they said at almost the same moment and Zero couldn't help laughing as he set the washed cup back on the nightstand.

"Right. I buy that," he said sarcastically, but didn't press. There was no easy or non-embarrassing way to approach what had happened a few minutes ago, and Zero felt they would probably all be more comfortable simply pretending it hadn't happened and moving on. "Feeling better?" he asked Aido and the younger vampire nodded quickly. He did look better, although it was obvious he still wasn't well.

"Mostly..." Aido amended, dragging a hand through his hair. "How long have I been out?"

"Around three days," Zero said, sitting on the edge of the bed. He'd been out for some of that time too, affecting his grasp of time, so he wasn't really sure how accurate he was, but it was something like that.

Aido seemed slightly surprised by that. "That long?" He frowned slightly, recalling the last time he was conscious. He remembered almost all of it now, and alarm lit in his eyes as he quickly struggled to sit upright. "Wait... what happened? Is everything all right? It wasn't too late, right? Naija's message..."

Zero placed a calming hand on the covers over Aido's knee. "Whoa, slow down. No, it wasn't too late, everything's fine. We were able to get the message to Diachi in time to save his ass and ours too. You did really good, Aido. Kaname's really proud of you, so just take it easy."

Aido smiled in relief, his body relaxing again as Zero continued to fill him in on the nutshell version of what had happened since then.

"...So then there was this emergency vote thing. Diachi sided with Kaname, and of course Prince whats-his-face did too. Too bad for Ardon, Mission Oil is staying put in An'swala for the foreseeable future." Zero grinned, obviously very pleased with the outcome. Aido and Kain were pleased as well.

There was a few minutes of silence before Aido seemed to work up to a question he'd been wanting to ask. "You probably don't know," he murmured. "But did anyone mention whether there was going to be any kind of memorial for... um... for the other scientists..."

Zero looked down at the bed clothes, knowing Aido wasn't asking about the other scientists in general, but one in particular. Vampires did not have funerals, since there was never any body to bury, but sometimes they had memorials for the departed. "Diachi intends to have a small memorial for Naija up in his territory when things calm down, probably a couple weeks from now," he said quietly. He knew because Kaname had made specific inquiries on the subject. "It's a semi-private thing, but Kaname got permission for you to attend."

Aido nodded quietly, staring down at his lap, and Kain squeezed his hand lightly. "Hana..."

"Yeah, I know," Aido cut him off softly, not able to deal with consolation right now when he himself was confused and unsure of how he felt. There was something in him that ached hollowly, making his chest hurt. He had respected and cared about Naija a lot more than he realized. He hadn't exactly been in love with her, but something told him that maybe he _could _have been with time. Now, he'd never know and it left him feeling very empty. "It's okay," he murmured, swallowing hard. It obviously _wasn't _and Zero and Kain exchanged quietly pained glances, but said nothing. What was there to say?

Unexpectedly, Aido looked up towards Kain with a funny intensity in his eyes. "Akatsuki, Ruka's here, right? I smell her."

A little thrown by the shift in topic, Kain nodded with a confused look. "Yeah, she's here. We've been taking turns sitting with you while you were out. She's downstairs talking to Seiren. Do you want me to get her?"

Aido shook his head. "No," he said quietly, his eyes still unusually intense. "I want you to freaking get off your ass and marry her."

Both Kain and Zero looked more than a little shocked by the unexpected statement. Aido had joked about such things with his cousin before, but he wasn't teasing now. He was unusually serious and not acting much like the person they knew at all.

"Uh... okay, that's a little sudden," Kain attempted to say lightly, trying to catch the curve ball and wondering where in the hell this was coming from.

"It's _not,_" Aido insisted, still serious. "It's not at _all _sudden. I _know _you better than anyone. You've been moony over her since elementary school and it took you _how _many years to make a move?"

"Hanabusa, this isn't..." Kain's face had tightened defensively.

"The time?" Aido cut him off. "Then when _is_, Akatsuki? You almost let her get away once because you didn't say anything. If Kaname-sama took mistresses like some other purebloods do, you _would _have lost her to him. But somehow, _miraculously, _you two are together now and even a blind rat could see that she loves you, I mean, I bet even _Kiryu _could tell..."

"Hey!" Zero protested being considered lower on the scale of emotional awareness than a visually impaired rodent, but Aido ignored him.

"I'm not trying to be a jerk, Akatsuki," Aido murmured quietly and the glitter of pain in his eyes dampened the irritation that Kain had been starting to exhibit. "I'm _serious_. You two are _good _for each other. If you truly want to be together, then you should just take the risk and _ask _her already. Sometimes we don't have forever to figure things out. Life can be shorter than you think, you know? Even for us."

Kain swallowed, taken aback by the unusual, pained maturity that showed through Aido's words and in his eyes. He wasn't used to this side of his cousin and Kain didn't know how to respond, especially because he suddenly realized that for once, the younger boy was completely _right. _Look at what was happening to Aido. Look at what had happened to Naija... what if right now was all you had? How much of that did he want to waste because he was afraid of changing the status quo?

"You agree with me, don't you, Zero?" Aido asked as if looking for support and Zero sent him a slightly uncomfortable glance. He didn't really want to get pulled into other people's private matters, but he had to admit that Aido's point was valid. The young noble's recent frequent brushes with death, as well as the lingering threat still hanging over him was obviously bringing Aido a new perspective on life, one with which Zero was quite familiar.

"Oh no, leave me out of this," Zero shook his head shooting Aido another _thanks a lot _look for putting him on the spot.

"Come on! I need the weight of someone actually _in _a relationship here," Aido groused. "Are you telling me you regret taking the chance with Kaname?" The absolutely scandalized mock-look on Aido's face made Zero roll his eyes.

"Don't be _stupid_." Zero frowned at him. "If you're asking me _personally_... then yeah. If you find someone who is worth everything to you, it's worth every possible risk or hardship to hold them and to make the most of every moment. But people have to figure these things out for themselves, Aido. It's not a math formula you can just plug the variables into."

Aido waved his hand dismissively. "See, Akatsuki? He agrees."

Zero snorted softly and wondered why he bothered. Still, although he was not about to presume to tell Kain what he should or shouldn't do, since he would not have welcomed that kind of meddling in his own life, the truth was he really couldn't disagree with Aido. He _did _think Kain was a little more afraid of rejection than he needed to be at this point, but then, those things were always so easy to judge from the outside, when you weren't the one in the middle of the situation. He knew from experience that relationships could be complicated, but if you were in love and really wanted to be together forever, then eventually the point would come where you needed to make up your mind and... and... a funny feeling suddenly pulled through Zero's gut as he realized he wasn't just thinking about Kain and Ruka.

The sound of two sets of feet running rapidly up the stairs diverted all three vampire's attention and a moment later Ruka herself appeared in the doorway. Zero recognized the pattern of the other swift set of footsteps as belonging to Seiren, but she kept on going down the hall, towards Zero's rooms. She was probably looking for Kaname and the hunter's alert level suddenly rose. Something was happening. He could sense it like a change in the air.

There was a worried expression on Ruka's face as she entered, but it disappeared for a moment when she saw Aido sitting up in bed. "You're awake!" her smile was genuine before she remembered to keep up appearances lest he think she had been _worried _or anything. "About time!" she added quickly.

"Yeah, nice to see you too, Ruka," Aido said wryly. "Your boyfriend's blood is delicious by the way."

Ruka glowered at him, but it was a friendly sort of peeve. "I _know_," she replied smoothly, before seeming to remember that Zero was in the room and it wasn't just the three cousins there to hear the banter. Her delicate cheeks colored quickly and she glanced in mortified apology to Kain. That hadn't been very lady-like of her and she hoped she hadn't embarrassed him. Akatsuki was wonderfully unflappable, but just because he'd roll with it, that didn't mean she wanted to unintentionally step on him. He didn't talk to others about their relationship and it had given her the impression that for some reason he didn't want people to know about them. She didn't know how okay she was with that, but she was trying to respect his wishes.

Kain was struck by the look she gave him, as if suddenly seeing it in a new light. He frowned slightly and for a moment Ruka thought he actually _was_ upset, as unusual as that would be. Then Kain smiled, pushing to his feet and unfolding his long frame. He took a few purposeful steps across to the room to her side, leaned down, and placed a light, but deliberate kiss of greeting on her lips. "Thanks," he said quietly, his eyes saying he wasn't at all ashamed of what she'd said and was in fact very _glad _that she liked his blood.

Ruka was completely startled by his little display of affection. This wasn't exactly _public _but it was the first time he'd kissed her in front of anyone they actually _knew... _even including Aido. She felt embarrassed and flustered... but that was not to say that she was at all displeased.

Ruka pushed lightly at Kain's chest, putting distance between them. "Akatsuki!" she hissed, blushing slightly, giving Kain a look and glancing meaningfully towards Zero and Aido. The former was studiously pretending to find the wallpaper absolutely fascinating while the latter was watching them with a huge grin.

"Is it wrong to give the woman I love a kiss hello?" Kain asked gently. "I don't think we're shocking them very much."

"Totally shocked over here," Aido piped up, unhelpfully. "Kain, you call that a kiss? Geez! Do I have to teach you _everything?_"

Zero helpfully reached over and smacked the back of Aido's head so that Kain didn't have to. Kain looked grateful.

"Hey, ow!" Aido protested, shooting the hunter a dirty look.

Ruka seemed torn between looking brilliantly happy, blushing and scowling. Somehow she managed to do all three at the same time and Kain kissed her again, taking hold of both of her hands. "Hey, is everything okay? You looked like something was wrong when you came in," he asked.

Ruka blinked, as if just now remembering why she had come up here in the first place. "Oh! Yes..." Giving Kain's hands a quick squeeze before she released them, she hurried over to bureau at the end of the bed and opened the cabinet doors that concealed the television and entertainment center inside. Ignoring several voices asking her what was going on, she found the remote she turned on the TV, flipping quickly to one of the national news network channels. It didn't matter which one, right now they would all be carrying the same breaking news.

The room fell silent and there were no more questions then, because they all understood what had brought Ruka up here, and why Seiren had gone flying to find Kaname.

According to the agitated newscasters and the blaring tickers running along the bottom of the screen "rebel in-fighting" had resulted in the explosion of an unsafe, secret weapons facility somewhere in the heart of An'swala. A secret _nuclear _weapons facility. It had gone up in fiery cloud of death just minutes ago, taking a huge swath of the country with it. Information was coming out of the area in broken jigs and jags and the extent of the fallout was still unknown. States of global emergency were being invoked everywhere. No one knew much of anything yet it seemed, but the experts were already predicting that it would turn out to be a worse disaster than Chernobyl.

Kain had taken the remote from Ruka and silently, he flipped from one channel to another. They were all playing different takes on the same story, some of them contradicting each other, some with new facts coming in that may or may not be true. The world was reacting to the scare, rocking with the terrible realization that An'swala had apparently possessed weapons of mass destruction whilst teetering on the brink of going into war with its neighbors. Those neighbors were known to have similar resources, meaning war between the seemingly insignificant little nations could have possibly launched nuclear Armageddon on half the globe.

Suddenly, the world was watching. Suddenly An'swala had made the news and people gave a damn what happened in that sad, remote little country. _Too bad it was too freaking late to matter._ Zero felt a hot, hard, angry lump settle in the pit of his stomach, burning there like acid. The timing was too coincidental for this to be a true accident and boiling hatred and horror constricted his chest. _All those people..._

Zero's head jerked up from the TV when he heard Kaname and Seiren's tread in the hall outside. He slid off the bed and hurried to the bedroom door, catching Kaname by the arm as he hurried by, halting him.

"It was Nasser, wasn't it?" he said with quite fierceness, his throat feeling tight and his stomach ill. The look on Kaname's face was all he needed as confirmation.

"Kaname... did we do this?" There was an aching hollowness of guilt in the amethyst eyes. He'd been as much a part of foiling Nasser's plans as Kaname had, and he couldn't regret that, but if this was the fallout... how was he supposed to live with _that_? "Is this my fault?" his voice was raw, confused and he was gripping Kaname's wrist so hard he was probably hurting him, although it wasn't intentional.

Kaname's eyes were understanding but fierce when they locked on him. The pureblood was already in battle mode. He shook Zero's grip off gently, taking the hunter's face between his hands and holding his gaze firmly.

"No, Zero," his voice was soft, but forceful. "_Nothing _about this is your fault. This is Nasser's doing, and his alone." Kaname shook his head. If there was blame to assign, then he knew it was all his for not anticipating this possibility, but honestly... he didn't know how he _could_ have. This move was counterintuitive, it seemed to _hurt _Nasser far more than it helped him. The Mission Oil conflict had been a huge part of what stirred up the trouble in An'swala and when the world started looking for someone to vilify, Orion and Trifecta were going to be ideal candidates. "We _couldn't_ have foreseen this. It's not some kind of petty retaliation, if it was he would have targeted the drilling fields and refineries and he didn't, they're practically untouched."

Zero shook his head, wondering how Kaname knew this before he caught sight of Seiren standing quietly behind the pureblood and realized that was a stupid question. Of course, Seiren's sources had undoubtedly given her way more instant and accurate information about what was happening than the confused, excitable news media was getting.

"Then why...?" Zero could still barely wrap his head around someone intentionally causing destruction on this scale... and getting away with it.

"Covering his ass," Kaname said tightly, his lips curling into a restrained snarl of disgust. "He's cleaning up a mess by covering it with a bigger one, that's the only thing that makes sense. Whether it's his mess or someone else's I don't know, but he's wiped the slate clean for a reason. Zero, the chunk of An'swala that was taken out? It's where all the sick people were and ergo probably most of the infected vampires as well. Everything's gone, vaporized and now the land itself is so contaminated that no one is going to risk going in there for decades." Kaname's gaze flicked into the room where the three nobles were watching and listening to them wide-eyed. He pointed at the youngest of the three. "Aido is now probably the only surviving example of the An'swalan virus," he said quietly.

Zero was trying to take all this in, trying to understand, but it seemed to defy comprehension. He'd thought killing the scientists had just been about framing him and getting Kaname and Diachi at one another's throats. But what if there had been a double purpose involved? "Why would he do that?" Zero repeated, hating sounding like a broken record, but unable to do much else.

"I don't know," Kaname admitted, giving his head a clipped, frustrated shake. It obviously bothered him that he didn't have the answer to that question. "It would appear as if he wants all traces of the virus completely eradicated, a goal which he has now almost entirely accomplished. Maybe it posed some kind of threat to him and his plans, maybe he thinks I might have been able to use it against him somehow, maybe it's quid-pro-quo and he's doing it for someone else he wants something from, _maybe_ he has reason to believe that it's a bigger threat than we are yet aware, _maybe_ he is somehow involved with it himself, or _maybe_ it's something else entirely. There are still far too many possibilities, I don't know which one is correct... _yet,_" he qualified meaningfully. "But I _will_ find out. Seiren," he turned to the woman behind him and she gave a small head bow.

"Yes, my lord?"

Kaname inclined his head towards the bedroom. "Stay with Aido. I want him and his research protected at all times. If Nasser's goal is to blot the virus completely from existence and memory then if he realizes there is yet a loose end, there may be another attempt made to tie it up."

Kaname didn't know why he hadn't already if that was the case, but it was possible that Nasser didn't know Aido was still alive. Kaname had not broadcast the fact that he had survived and no enemy surveillance could get into Night Haven on Seiren's watch. A handful of people knew, but none of them were spreading it around. Nasser would find out eventually, Kaname hadn't been hiding it nearly carefully enough to prevent that since he hadn't thought he _needed_ to hide it.

Of course, on the other hand, perhaps Nasser already knew but didn't care. The clean up in An'swala could have been about something else entirely and wiping out the virus could be just a cover - a misdirection meant to send Kaname chasing around in circles down the wrong path. You couldn't take anything for granted with Nasser, he was very capable of blithely murdering thousands of people just to set a false trail if it suited him. There were so many different possibilities and not nearly enough data to back up any of them, it made Kaname's head ache. Right now, the best thing he could do was simply try to cover as many bases as possible.

"Yes, my lord," Seiren said obediently, but she looked troubled.

Kaname gave her a small smile. "Don't worry, I'll have Zero looking out for me, all right?"

Seiren shot Zero a glance, then simply nodded.


	34. Confrontation

_A/N: Sorry as usual for the long wait, but it's a super long chapter this time to hopefully help make up for it. (30 pages in Word! :S) Thank you all soooooo much for all the wonderful reviews! I know it probably gets repetitive of me to keep saying this, but truly, I appreciate them all so much and I can't thank you enough for taking the time to share your thoughts and your encouragement. :) Thank you!_

_And yes, we are into the final climax now... :D Although it's probably going to take several more chapters yet just to get through the confrontation and then resolve things afterwards. Because, you know, I can't seem to write anything __**short **__even when I try. :P Sorry in advance for all typos and errors. Chapter not very well betaed as usual. :P _

**Chapter Thirty-Four: "Confrontation"**

"...And then the zombies invaded."

"Mm-hmm."

"...quickly forming a union with the flying squirrels and completely taking over the earth."

"Mmm..."

Kain and Ruka glanced at one another in distinct amusement as their increasingly ridiculous, round-robin of nonsensical asides continued to draw only distracted sounds of vague acknowledgement from the blond on the bed beside them. Aido was sitting up, back propped against the headboard, laptop resting on a pillow on his knees. His fingers were tapping lightly and rapidly across the keys and his attention was obviously riveted on the screen and not on what his cousins were saying.

"You know he stopped listening to us ages ago," Kain said, still in the same, conversational tone of voice he had been using all along. He'd discovered long ago that when Aido was distracted he only responded to the tone of voice in which he was addressed, not to what was actually being _said_. Kain had used that to his advantage more than once in the past. For a genius, Aido could be very gullible if you knew him well enough.

"I don't think he ever started," Ruka replied in the same manner, well acquainted with this game. "But at least he's not whining any more like an ill-mannered toddler."

It had been three days since Aido had awoken. He was recovering slowly, but his injuries still kept him confined to bed and he was painfully obvious that he was going stir crazy. When she and Kain had arrived earlier, they'd found their younger cousin freezing and flicking drops of water from his drinking cup at the noses of news commentators on the TV. The frozen droplets pinged softly off the screen and he claimed it was some sort of test to judge the aerodynamic properties of the various shapes he was freezing the water into. Ruka knew he was just bored.

"True," Kain conceded with a small smile. "But that's just because someone brought him a new toy." He spared a glance towards the silent figure sitting by the window on the opposite side of the room, remembering with mild embarrassment that someone else was privy to their antics. It was incredibly easy to forget that she was there. It had always been like that, even when they were all at school.

Seiren appeared to be reading a book and not paying any attention to them. She gave even less response than Aido, but had probably heard every word given how little seemed to escape her. Her posture was relaxed yet somehow managed to seem alert and watchful at the same time. She was following Kaname's orders to watch over Aido while continuing to fulfill her other tasks as the pureblood's central intelligence gatherer. Kain respected her skill and loyalty, even if she wasn't an easy person to get to know. He figured that the fact that she had been able to put up with Aido for the past few days without killing him herself was proof of her dedication to Kaname.

She was the best bodyguard Aido could want, but he repeatedly complained that she was not much good for company. Kain suspected she simply didn't put up with his cousin's crap or cave to his considerable charm. She had, however, brought him a laptop and networked him into his server, which had been rebuilt at some secure, undisclosed location. Given the quiet that had descended once Aido had something to occupy him, Kain suspected that the move had been a rather well calculated one on Seiren's part.

"What do you think he's looking at that's so fascinating?" Kain pondered, content to idle away a little more time before they had to leave.

"My money's on something that would be mind-numbingly boring to a _normal _person," Ruka opined, pretending to give the matter some consideration. "Since he doesn't look quite enthralled enough to have hacked the security feed in Kaname-sama's rooms yet."

"Hey, I wouldn't do that!" Aido protested, offering his cousins a glare and shooting and a sidelong glance towards Seiren, who simply turned the page in her book. _Couldn't _do it would be more accurate; Seiren's firewalls were enough to keep even him out of Night Haven's secure grid. Besides, Kaname and Zero would never allow cameras in either of their rooms, he was quite sure. They were much too private. _Too bad..._

"Oh, now you've done it," Kain said to Ruka with a small smile. "You mentioned Kaname. Sure way to catch his attention. Too bad, I was going to ask him about getting rid of some of the junk he left at my place too..." he joked.

Aido actually stuck his tongue out at his cousin. "Touch my collection and die," he deadpanned. "And just because I don't choose to respond to your inane conversation doesn't mean I can't hear you, by the way," he added with a frown. "Flying squirrels indeed... where do you get these ridiculous ideas? _Everybody_ knows it was the naked mole rats who were in league with the zombies," he muttered with mock definitiveness. His gaze fell back to his computer screen and the barest hint of a smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

Ruka laughed. "Oh, he improves! We'd better watch ourselves, Akatsuki. I think he's playing us."

Kain laughed too; glad to see Aido able to joke again at least a little. The younger vampire had seemed pretty depressed the past few days.

"Well, we'd probably better go home to change and freshen up," Ruka said finally, glancing at her watch and then at Kain. "The press conference starts at nine and we should get there early to support Kaname-sama."

Kain rose when she rose, but he lifted his eyebrows slightly. "Change? What's wrong with what you're wearing now?"

Aido looked up again long enough to wince theatrically. "Oh Akatsuki, did you _really _just say that to a member of the feminine sex when you're going to attend an event involving cameras of any kind? Honestly, are we even _related?_"

The look on Ruka's face said that Aido was right and Kain shrugged, easily admitting defeat. "Well, I just think you look beautiful all the time, so... I'm no good judge," he said with a soft smile towards Ruka, eliciting a warm smile from her in return.

Aido smirked. "Nice save," he muttered in the direction of his computer screen, then winced without looking up when Ruka threatened to smack him with one of his pillows. "Hey, hey, hey! Sick person, remember?"

She doffed him lightly on the head, messing his hair and dropping the pillow back to the bed. "_You _should get some rest, Mr. Sick Person," she remonstrated. The press conference was scheduled on human time, bright and early in the morning, which meant that all vampire participants were staying up late to attend.

"Sure, sure," Aido waved his hand dismissively, trying to pretend like he didn't care that he couldn't go with them.

"She's right, don't stay up too late," Kain agreed as they headed out the door.

Aido rolled his eyes. "Yes, _mother. _Geez, will you two get out of here already?"

Once they were gone Aido's fingers fell silent on the keys and his shoulders finally sagged. He sighed softly. He really did wish he could go, but he wasn't well enough, nor would Seiren have allowed it since they still didn't know if he was in any danger or not. It was really too bad, the press conference was going to be a rather big deal for Kaname and he would have liked to be there.

The media event followed up on several days worth of intense diplomatic negotiations and planning on Kaname's part. The press had been following all the way along of course, since the world still seemed incapable of talking about anything other than the An'swalan disaster, but today was when the information they'd been leaking for days would finally be confirmed and official statements would be made.

In an unprecedented effort to shore up the destabilizing region, Kuran Corporation was spearheading heading a multi-national, multi-corporation joint venture which would pour billions of dollars in resources and humanitarian aid into An'swala and the surrounding regions to help it regain its feet and to assist in the cleanup and containment of the nuclear fallout. Naturally, such efforts had to be run through the proper political channels, but money had a way of easing its way through red tape, especially in emergency situations such as this. What was most desperately needed in that region right now was the money and manpower to make a difference fast enough for it to not be too late - a need which Kaname both exploited and filled expertly.

Kuran Corp and Ichijo Enterprises were the two lead investors at this point. Between them their resources were not small and already many other, unrelated companies had also begun jumping on the bandwagon in the wash of good PR that was flowing freely around the intentionally ill kept secret.

Public opinion was strongly on Kaname's side in this matter and the media just loved him. Private citizens and corporations pouring money into international aid organizations and taking on jobs usually left to overburdened governments made for great news copy and they enthusiastically lauded the philanthropic endeavor from every human interest angle possible.

Aido couldn't help smiling a little. Kaname certainly knew how to work a crowd. Mind you, the whole project _was _incredibly philanthropic and it was no doubt going to save a lot of lives and prevent a lot of suffering. Kaname would never get a tangible return on this investment that would make up for the enormous costs it would entail. _However, _on the PR side of things, it was a smashing success which ensured that Nasser had better not even _breathe_ in An'swala's direction ever again. The press had already crucified Trifecta for its part in heightening the tensions leading up to the disaster and the company probably wouldn't last out the next few years. Not that it would be a significant blow to Orion in the long run, but it was certainly satisfying at any rate.

The smile faded and Aido sighed again. Yes, he would have liked to be there today. Honestly... he would have liked to be _anywhere _that could give him something to do other than lie here wondering if he were dying and trying not to think about Naija. The fact that he was probably now the only person left in the world who was dealing with his particular affliction was a very lonely feeling. He felt like more of a pariah than ever. He knew he was lucky that he had family and friends who hadn't shunned him out of hand and that Kaname-sama did not see him as a danger that would be better snuffed out, but he still had no idea where all this left him or what he was ultimately going to do.

When his cousins were around he tried to pretend that these thoughts did not plague him, but when he was alone... it was harder to hold onto the pretense. Finally, he turned his attention back to the computer screen, pushing back the shadows with effort. He was glad for this distraction, which promised to provide a relief from gloomy thoughts and his own agitated restlessness for a while.

In the corner, Seiren's silent gaze regarded the boy on the bed from over the top of her book, observing the change that came over him when he perceived himself alone. He wasn't counting her presence of course, but then, people never did. Far from finding this fact troubling, it was a point of pride with the Praetorian. She was meant to be a living shadow, and was therefore doing her job right when people failed to notice her presence, even when they knew she was there. Aido, by contrast, was quite the opposite. He liked to be the center of attention at all times. Since the start of her current assignment, that fact had led Seiren to occasionally wishing she could knock him out in order to get a little peace and quiet. She was trained to read people, however and had begun to see that beneath the young noble's often annoying façade he was wrestling with a lot of confused feelings and uncertainties which he struggled not to show to even his closest friends. _She_ saw them, though, because she was invisible.

Aido turned his attention back to his computer without ever noticing her gaze upon him and Seiren watched a moment longer before her eyes slid back to the pages of the book before her. She'd known the laptop was a good idea. There was nothing like work to give your mind an escape from worry, or grief.

Aido clicked thoughtfully through several different screens of the reconstruction program he was running. If he couldn't be physically active, being mentally active was a good fallback. After Seiren had brought him the computer and hooked him back into what had formerly been his backup server, he'd started sorting through the files Naija had sent him the night he was nearly killed. He'd re-watched the video of her last message again for the first time since right before he'd been attacked. He'd played it several times, until he felt sick, and had quickly moved on to the files she'd sent instead.

Because the connection on her end had been terminated so abruptly, some of the data had been only partially transferred. Most of the files were corrupted to some extent and would not open without repair work being affected. Aido was attempting to do so now, running various programs and recovery methods in an effort to reconstruct the damaged files or at least extract what salvageable bits of information they might contain. It would be slow, difficult work, but he welcomed the challenge.

In the furor regarding the recent turns of events with the Mission Oil deal and the disaster in An'swala, everyone had been rather busy. Aido, for his part had been laid up or unconscious a good portion of the time. His recollections of that terrible night were hazy, and he hadn't fully remembered Naija's last message until he re-watched it. It was only now, as he stopped to consider everything that had happened and tried to piece back together the events of that night in his mind that he once again began to wonder about some of the things Naija had said to him.

What was in these files, anyway? What was it that she'd been so desperate to get to him? The news about the assassination plot and the danger to Diachi-sama, certainly. He understood her urgency on that point, but that was now old news. Kaname and Diachi had already come to the understanding that they weren't double crossing one another, so if these files simply backed up that warning, they would be fairly irrelevant, yet he doubted that's what they were. There was something else she'd wanted to get into his hands, something about the virus, he was certain.

_"We were wrong about the virus, 'Busa. I'm almost positive. It's a weapon, or it's supposed to be, but not targeted at __**us**__. It all ties back to An'swala..." _What had she meant? If it wasn't targeted at them, then who? Was it meant for humans after all as they had first thought and his own symptoms were some kind of bizarre side-effect? What about that document trail that she had said she discovered, also leading back to An'swala? Had that simply been a completely fake trail laid by Nasser, as so many things had been recently? Or was there something in it that had led her to whatever discovery she'd tried to pass on before she was killed?

He didn't know, but he would find out. That, the young vampire promised himself.

* * *

Kain and Ruka saw Zero at the bottom of the stairs as they approached from the top. He was obviously intending to come up as they prepared to go down.

Zero must have just gotten in and his appearance made both nobles hesitate for a moment and stare. His short silver hair was mussed and the lingering scent of exhaust fumes indicated that he had probably been riding his bike. There was a smear of blood across his ear and cheek, running down his neck and disappearing beneath the collar of his leather riding jacket. The crimson stained his silver piercings a liquid red and it would have been worrisome except they could tell at once that the blood wasn't _his_. The thick scent of death and gunpowder clung to him. He had obviously just come back from a hunt.

Although they drew up short for a moment, the two vampire nobles quickly pushed themselves forward again, intentionally not shying away from the hunter as they both approached the staircase from opposite ends. Aristocratic vampires and hunters both had the responsibility of controlling or eliminating dangerous lower-class vampires, but they traditionally did not cooperate in these efforts. There was, unsurprisingly, about as deep an ingrained disdain, revulsion and natural enmity towards hunters in vampire society as there was towards vampires in hunter society.

Kain and Ruka had not been raised much different than other vampire children in that respect. They'd heard the same ghoulish hunter horror stories whispered under blankets at sleepovers. They'd been told by their governesses and nannies to behave or_ "the hunters will get you". _What exactly the hunters would _do_ when they got you seemed to change according to whatever mischief the young vampires had been getting into at the time _- "pluck out your eyes", "cut out your tongue", "chop off your fingers"... _whatever, the adults seemed to have very creative minds_._

Kain and Ruka were children no longer, however, and they had both seen and been through enough to greatly temper how much those prejudices were brought with them into adulthood. They knew what Zero was and what he did, but he was not the monster hiding in the closet. He was their friend.

Zero looked down, frowning slightly in chagrin as he hesitated before starting quickly up the stairs. _Great, just __**great**__. _First he narrowly avoided running into Takuma and Shiki in the hall, now he bumped into Kain and Ruka. The house was crawling with vampires and he was wandering around looking like road kill, covered in blood and ashes. _Freaking fantastic. _

Kaname was used to him coming home like this, but he normally tried to avoid his other vampire friends directly after a hunt. He was not at all ashamed of what he'd done tonight, but that didn't mean he was happy about parading it around in front of everyone. There were jobs you did because they needed doing, but like a soldier returning from war, you didn't necessarily care to carry the battlefield back home with you.

He supposed he'd been in too much of a hurry - if he'd been thinking, he should have at least lost the practically blood soaked shirt he was wearing under his jacket. He smelled like a freaking smorgasbord. He probably should have tried to scrub up a little in the kitchen before running the risk of encountering anyone, but he and Kaname normally lived alone and he wasn't accustomed to having as many people constantly coming and going and hanging about the house as there had been over the past few days.

"Everything go all right? You okay?" Kain inquired in an easy tone as Zero started up the stairs and he and Ruka started down.

Zero had been trying to give them as wide a berth as possible and seemed a bit startled by the question. His gaze darted up and he relaxed ever so slightly when it became clear that they weren't trying to skirt him like the boogieman. It would have been all right if they had, he'd have understood that and it wouldn't have changed anything, but still... he was tired and the unexpected lack of friction was kind of nice.

"Fine," he responded to both inquiries succinctly as they passed one another. "Took a lot longer than it should have, but it all worked out." The truth was it had been a near disaster and had very nearly taken _too _long. He'd been deeply worried that he wasn't going to make it back in time and Kaname would go to the press conference without him. _That _could not happen, because Nasser Ardon was going to be there and there was no way in _hell _Zero was going to let Kaname go near him without the hunter being present as well.

"Good, we'll see you later then," Kain said lightly, struggling to keep himself from reacting to the heavy scent of blood as they brushed by one another on the staircase.

It was no easy feat though and Ruka quickly averted her eyes in embarrassment as they reddened. She'd given Aido blood not long ago and the strong scent now drew a reaction before she could stop it. Her cheeks colored slightly and Kain squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"Sorry," Zero murmured, quickening his pace to put more distance between them before he agitated her any further.

"No, I'm sorry," she returned quickly. "I'm fine, really." She squeezed Kain's hand back hard as they swiftly made the bottom of the stairs. "It's nothing. I should have brought more pills. Can I borrow yours, Akatsuki?"

"Out too, sorry," Kain apologized sincerely, patting his pocket. They had both been using a lot more than normal due to regularly feeding their cousin and they needed to restock.

Zero knew Ruka and Kain were both more susceptible right now because of what they were doing for Aido. If he'd had any blood tablets, he would have offered them, but of course he didn't keep any around since he couldn't take them. Kaname was well stocked, but his were different from the ones the nobles took and wouldn't do them much good.

"Takuma and Senri are in the drawing room, you could probably borrow from them," he offered instead as he made the top of the stairs. He figured Seiren probably had some as well, although he couldn't remember seeing her take any. That didn't mean anything though, since he didn't think he'd ever actually seen her eat _anything_ that he could recall.

Ruka shook her head, her eyes already dulled partway back to their normal color. It was clear she was still very much in control of herself, despite the edge of hunger. She gave Zero a small smile, which unintentionally looked a bit more beguiling than usual what with her luminous eyes and the delicate tips of her fangs showing. "They won't have any, Zero. They're a _couple_," she said as if he was being somewhat amusingly dense. "Anyway, I'll be fine until we get home. I have more there."

Zero just nodded. Normally, It would be remiss of him to let a vampire go off in an obviously stirred up condition like this, but he didn't have to be on the job with these particular people. He knew he didn't have to worry about Ruka deciding to stop and have a human snack on the way home.

"Of course... we're a couple too, right?" Kain said with a small, meaningful smile that clearly indicated Ruka didn't _have_ to wait until they got home, or take blood tablets to quench her thirst if she didn't want to.

Ruka caught his drift and her smile grew more enchanting. She appeared to be feeling a little less reserved than usual, probably due to the same instincts that had her fangs engaged. "Don't make it sound like a question, Akatsuki, or I may have to hurt you."

Kain's eyes sparkled. "And I might like that. Come on, let's go." Still holding her hand, he led her away swiftly.

For his part, Zero quickly made his way towards his bedroom before he could run into anyone _else, _but he had a small smile on his face nonetheless_. _It generally embarrassed him to watch other people being affectionate, but it was kind of nice to see those two happy.

Zero was slightly relieved that his rooms were empty when he got there. Despite the abundance of guest quarters, Kaname was still cohabitating with him while the pureblood's rooms were remodeled. Zero didn't mind the arrangement, but just now he'd rather have a chance to wash before Kaname saw him.

Zero was already in the shower, washing his hair under a hot, steady stream, before the meaning of Ruka's "couples" comment finally dawned on him. Of course, she meant that Takuma and Senri likely didn't _need _to be on the blood tablets anymore since they were in a fairly committed relationship by now. Senri had moved in with Takuma some time ago and it was clear that things were serious between them. Zero didn't know if they had actually bonded or not yet, but if not, it was probably only a matter of time. They were certainly sharing blood in any case. Accepted hunter wisdom taught that it was a good thing when vampires were in relationships because they were more likely to take from each other and leave humans alone. Naturally, for blood tablet users, that meant that they wouldn't need to take the pills anymore, or at least not so much.

Zero turned his face up to the spray. He supposed he hadn't thought of that before because it had always been a moot point for him. He'd never been able to handle the pills and Kaname had been sustaining his needs for a long time now. A small frown crossed Zero's face as an unexpected thought struck him. It didn't go both ways with them though, did it? Zero didn't need anything else, but he knew Kaname was still a regular blood tablet user. He saw Kaname pop the pills in his water at breakfast or his wine at dinner every so often. It had always seemed natural since Kaname had been doing that for as long as Zero had known him, but suddenly the hunter wondered just how normal it really was, given their relationship.

For some reason, Zero felt a completely unanticipated little tug of inadequacy. It was probably dumb, but he couldn't help wondering why his blood wasn't able to be enough for Kaname. He supposed it was probably because of the genetic disparity between them. His frown deepened as he carefully detached and washed each of his stained earrings before sliding them back into their appropriate places. He knew he was being stupid and shouldn't bother him at all, but... it kind of did.

When Zero came out of the bathroom, he found Kaname in the bedroom, apparently in the middle of changing his clothes. Kaname had unintentionally taken over most of Zero's closet. It wasn't hard to do since Zero kept a very light wardrobe while Kaname kept a fairly extensive one. Zero honestly found it more amusing than annoying, if only because he knew the situation was temporary.

Kaname was buttoning up his shirt when Zero came out and he gave the hunter an appreciative smile. "Did the hunt go well?" he inquired, obviously knowing where Zero had been.

Zero shrugged, noting that Kaname had one of his designer suits lying on the bed and correctly surmising that the pureblood was dressing for the upcoming press conference. "I wouldn't say _well,_" he qualified. "Intel was wrong and we were screwed from step one, but it was _successful _in the end."

"Due in no small part to the tireless efforts of one amazingly talented young hunter, I'm sure," Kaname said with a grin. He pretended as if he didn't know, but he was in fact quite aware of what had happened. The whole thing had been a near disaster, salvaged in part only because Zero had gone against conventional wisdom and finally gotten a step ahead of their troublesome prey _before _the hunters could be led into the waiting ambush.

Zero rolled his eyes as he went to the closet and shoved some of Kaname's clothes out of the way, rifling through until he found the little-used suit he was looking for. "Just glad I made it back in time," he muttered. "Hey, what are Takuma and Senri doing here?" he tried to shift topics without much grace. "Isn't their hotel much closer to where the press conference is taking place?"

It was Kaname's turn to shrug. "Takuma dropped by to discuss a few matters beforehand. We took care of some business together," he said simply, pretending to focus on picking out a tie. What he said was true, even if there was a bit more to it than that.

The nearly botched hunt had in fact been intentionally rigged in an attempt to harm Zero or at the very least to keep him otherwise engaged this morning. That angered Kaname, but didn't surprise him. He had expected that kind of retaliation from Nasser and had been constantly vigilant these past few days. Seiren and her people had already efficiently dealt with a number of would-be assassins attempting to gain access to the Night Haven grounds. None of them actually reached the house. Whether Kaname, Zero or Aido were the target wasn't certain, but hardly made a difference. Kaname couldn't believe that Nasser was stupid enough to think any assassins, no matter how trained, could make it through, so he suspected that the failed attempts in that quarter were more a matter of the elder pureblood wishing to keep Kaname on his toes and give him a false sense of security while he implemented whatever his real plans were.

Due to his job, Zero was the most vulnerable of them. That, combined with the part he'd played in making a fool of Nasser, made him the most likely target for a real spite attack. Kaname knew that with uncomfortable certainty. He had been expecting Nasser to try something while Zero was on a hunt and he'd had an especially bad feeling when Zero left last night. Trying something today made sense. Nasser would have reason to believe Kaname was distracted with the upcoming event and would have loved to throw his younger opponent off balance with bad news right before the press conference, no doubt.

Nasser was not always as clever as he thought, however, or at least, Kaname was a lot more interested in keeping a 24/7 eye on Zero's safety than the elder pureblood had reason to suspect. It also helped that Nasser continued to underestimate Zero.

Even though the young hunter did not realize who was behind it, Zero had foiled the first prong of the plan himself by not falling for the trick that his other companions almost had. Kaname had quietly foiled the second prong without the hunters' knowledge. More than a hundred E's had been set to converge on the already engaged hunters as a fallback plan once the initial trap failed. Such impressive numbers could only have been gathered and set into cooperation by a pureblood. Kaname and Takuma together had swiftly and quietly dealt with that second wave on their own, disposing of the would-be army and covering up their tracks without the beleaguered hunters being any the wiser.

Kaname felt it was better if the Association didn't realize that there was a near war brewing between he and Nasser, or that it had _anything_ to do with Zero. They could too easily begin to view the young hunter as a liability and that would be bad. He did not feel inclined to tell Zero it either, who had made it very clear that he didn't like it when Kaname interfered with his hunter business. In any event, all was well that ended well.

Kaname watched Zero dress surreptitiously. The pureblood had been around a fair amount of bloodshed this morning and it had stirred him up, although he was doing a good job of concealing the fact. However, Zero fresh from a shower with his toned body partially naked and his graceful neck completely uncovered was a very tempting sight. Almost _too _tempting and Kaname realized with mild chagrin that his fangs had become aroused and his throat was aching slightly. Zero was pulling on a pair of pants and the careless way his muscles rippled coupled with the delicious way his naked neck canted slightly to the side was sorely trying. The pureblood's gaze lingered on his lover's throat, the veins beneath seeming to map themselves out for him in wickedly tempting invitation.

Zero shrugged his shirt on and started buttoning it up, but paused when he saw the way Kaname was staring at his neck. The look on Kaname's face clearly gave away that he was _thirsty_ and Zero was put in mind of his earlier thoughts on that topic. He hesitated, then impulsively let the shirt fall back down to his elbows.

"Do you want some?" he asked quietly after a long moment's deliberation. He tilted his head slightly to the side, making it clear what he meant. It _wasn't_ a natural thing for him to say. As soon as he said it his skin felt unaccountably hot and his stomach unaccountably tense. The sudden awkwardness he felt made Zero realize that he almost never offered Kaname his blood unless the pureblood was injured or they were making love. Actually... if he were honest, the only time he truly _offered _was when Kaname was injured. When they were in bed Kaname was usually the one who initiated the biting, although he almost always paused slightly before breaking skin, as if waiting to see whether Zero would object. Zero rarely did these days since it had come to feel like a strangely natural part of their intimacy, but the fact remained that _not objecting_ was not the same as _offering_.

Conversely, Kaname invited _him_ to drink all the time, until Zero had started to feel comfortable enough to do things like casually sneaking a few sips while they were cuddled on the couch watching TV. It was sweet contact for them both, like a casual kiss, but it often had more to do with Zero being hungry than wanting to be intimate. Kaname never drank from him like that. If Kaname spilled his blood, it was almost always in the context of sex. Zero had not noticed or thought about it until now, but Kaname never came to him just because he was hungry.

Kaname blinked, a deep stab of desire twisting through him at Zero's unexpected and incredibly provocative offer. He was startled by the invitation and his eyes showed how badly he wanted to accept,but he held himself back. Restraint had become too much of an ingrained habit by now. He knew he wasn't in a fit state to be weighing the possible implications of this situation and he didn't want to do the wrong thing. Chagrined that Zero had caught him looking, he gave a quick, warm smile and shook his head.

"I'm fine, Zero. Thanks," he assured. "Just need my morning dose." He plucked his little box of blood tablets from the nightstand and gave it an illustrative jiggle before heading towards the bathroom to pour himself some water from the tap. His throat burned and his teeth ached sharply.

Zero felt a weird, completely unexpected little kick of emptiness in his stomach at having his offer rejected. Dumb, of course, he knew that, but he couldn't help wondering again if he just didn't have what Kaname needed and the pureblood was simply trying to shield his feelings by keeping that knowledge from him. Kaname was nothing if not assiduous about trying to shield Zero from all inference of what a biologically and politically unsuitable match they made. Zero understood that, but he hated candy-coated lies, no matter their intention.

"Kaname, is my blood not strong enough for you?" Zero's question was quiet and honest. It froze Kaname in the bathroom doorway, making him turn around quickly with a look of surprised confusion on his face.

"What?" He smiled slightly, nonplussed by the ridiculous question and surprised that Zero seemed to be taking issue with _this _of all things. "Your blood is the sweetest thing in the world to me, Zero," he murmured, his tone slightly suggestive as he raised a wry eyebrow. "You _know_ that."

Zero colored a little under Kaname's intensely adoring and meaningful gaze, but shook his head. "I know you _like _it," he mumbled. Kaname had made that _very _clear, many times. "I'm asking if it's too... I don't know, _thin_ or something to really work for you, because of what I am?"

The young hunter rubbed the back of his neck. He felt incredibly self-conscious and upon reflection he sort of wished he hadn't brought the subject up at all. It wasn't as if the answer made any real difference... but it was on his mind and wanted to know. He was an ex-human and Kaname was a pureblood. It wasn't too shocking to imagine that Kaname might need more for sustenance than his blood could offer. It wouldn't feel too good to know for sure he was _lacking _in some way, but he could deal. He preferred knowing where he stood.

"What I mean is, well..." Zero frowned slightly, knowing he wasn't expressing his question very clearly. "Isn't it normal for a... for a coupleto just drink from one another? Or do they usually still need the tablets or other sources too?"

Kaname's quizzical gaze turned soft and serious as he finally understood what Zero was asking. It surprised him all over again quite frankly, he'd not imagined this would be something Zero would _ever_ want to discuss_. _Zero was a lot more comfortable with himself lately, but he still eschewed dwelling too much on all things vampire. For him to refer to them as a _couple_, even indirectly, was also highly unusual and rather sweet.

Kaname walked back towards his lover, reaching out and brushing Zero's cheek with his fingertips. "Yes, Zero. Couples usually drink from one another. At that point, there's not much need for the tablets, except as a good backup for when they are apart." He tilted his head slightly, managing to keep his adoring eyes on Zero's face and not let them wander down to map the tempting flow of blood vessels which ran down his throat and throbbed so enticingly.

Kaname was quite aware that Zero knew all too well what hungry vampire eyes looked like. In his profession, Zero was trained to know and to read it as a telltale sign of danger. Because of that, Kaname tried never to look at him that way unless it was unavoidable or unless it was clearly mingled with a _different_ kind of hunger, one that wouldn't make Zero feel threatened_. _Over the years they'd been together, it was a skill he'd simply learned - one more level of restraint he'd trained himself to adopt so as not to make his partner uncomfortable.

"There's nothing at all lacking in your blood that makes me needa substitute," he assured. "I simply never thought you really _wanted _me to drink from you, except for, well... special occasions." Kaname smiled slightly, obviously meaning _when we're in bed, or about to be in bed, or otherwise making out. _

Being honest with himself, Zero knew that there was a time when that had been true. A very long time that extended even after he and Kaname had been together for quite a while. He couldn't say when exactly his feelings had started to change. It had been a very gradual, natural shift but it wasn't something he'd ever put into conscious thought until right this moment.

"I won't say you weren't right," he admitted, feeling embarrassed by the whole topic, even though bringing it up was his fault. He had issues, he knew that. Kaname had been very patient with him. "But... that's not very fair of me, is it? I drink from you all the time," he murmured. He realized now what he supposed should have been obvious to him before - it was the infrequency with which Kaname drank his blood that made the other vampire need the tablets, not, apparently, the quality of the blood itself.

Kaname caressed the hunter's cheek more firmly, cupping it in his palm. "It's all right, Zero. I honestly don't _need _blood very much at all. I admit that I _want _your blood, because I love you, but I don't _need _to drink from you every time I'm thirsty, I'm fine with the pills. I love it when you take from me, but I know being bitten isn't something natural for you. I've always been honored that you let me do it at all."

Kaname dipped his head and brushed Zero's lips with a soft kiss. It made him a bit guilty to remember how he used to drink from Zero in his sleep sometimes in the early days, when he was desperate for his bondmates blood and too afraid of stirring up Zero's inner demons to try it when he was awake. He no longer needed to do that because he drank from Zero frequently enough when they were intimate these days and he never felt any kind of real lacking.

Zero kissed Kaname back lightly before giving his lover a slightly reproachful expression. "_Let you? _Seriously, after everything you've given me, you think I wouldn't _let you_ take what you need too? How big of a bastard do you think I am?"

Zero was suddenly reminded of the way Aido had unintentionally become seductive towards him when he needed blood. It had felt unnatural coming from Aido, but if it that been Kaname he would never have noticed anything was off because their relationship made such interaction normal. Did Kaname ever feel like he had to seduce Zero just to be allowed what he wanted or needed? Zero knew that of course their relationship was much deeper than that and Kaname would _very_ happily seduce him anyway, _the sweet, insatiable twit_, but still, the thought made him feel incredibly guilty.

"A huge one, of course," Kaname teasingly answered Zero's rhetorical question, earning him a scowl from the hunter which he happily kissed away before shaking his head. He wanted to ease Zero's mind, although he wasn't sure why this suddenly seemed to be bothering him so deeply. "But that's not what I meant," he clarified with a small smile. "I know you would, and you do. You did even before we understood what this was we shared..." his thumb traced down Zero's chin lovingly. "Even when I _know_ you still hated my pointy-toothed guts..." The pureblood's eyes twinkled in amusement for a moment before sobering. "Even when we thought that everything about us was completely wrong and yet I needed you so desperately that I did the unforgivable, repeatedly... even then, you never denied me what I needed. Zero, you've always been very _fair, _as you put it, and I promise it's okay."

Zero's gaze dropped, resting without seeing on the buttons of Kaname's dress shirt. He knew what the pureblood was talking about, but contrary to Kaname's intention, those memories tended to deepen his feeling of guilt rather than alleviating it.

There was a time when the sharing of blood between them had seemed like such a horrible, horrible sin and he had fervently hated both himself and Kaname for what they needed. Well, actually, there had been a _lot_ of times like that in the early days, but the worst of it had been after Yuki was attacked. After her injury and subsequent illness had torn apart his and Kaname's former attempts at some kind of relationship, there had been a very dark period in both their lives. They didn't touch one another in a sexual manner at all during her long illness and the gulf between them had widened a little more every day... but Zero had still needed blood - more so than ever what with the upset of everything going on. So had Kaname.

Zero had continued to drink from Kaname through that time, it wasn't as if he had any alternatives. Having his blood drawn when his own emotions were so raw and stirred up had proved too much for Kaname's restraint. Zero's pale neck right next to his face was too tempting. Kaname drank from him as well_, regularly - _much _more _regularly than any other time in their relationship, including the present.

The encounters had become strained, silent affairs, due in no small part to how hard it was for both pureblood and hunter to deny their desire for _more _every time they shared blood, but they _had_ denied it. Zero had hated the act so much, both the taking and the giving. Hated it for being necessary. Hated it for feeling so damn _good _when he _wanted _it to be disgusting. Hated it for not being _enough. _Hated the trembling, desperate yearning he felt for the other vampire every time one of them penetrated the other's flesh. Hated the fact that this was the only way Kaname would be close to him anymore, and _especially_ hated the fact that he even _thought_ something like that. But he had never stopped Kaname.

"I wasn't being fair, I was being selfish," Zero sighed softly, feeling compelled to admit the truth since Kaname had brought the matter up. He had a scrupulously honest streak and didn't like anyone to think better of him then he felt he deserved. "Back then, back when... when Yuki was sick, it was the only way you would touch me." He snorted softly. "But I most certainly would have died before admitting _that,_" he added with a wry, self-deprecating smirk.

Kaname's eyebrows raised, once again shocked by his companion's candor and his words. He'd not had any idea that Zero had felt that way at the time. They'd both been straining away from one another so hard, he'd assumed his attentions were as unwanted as they were wrong. They'd really been such a prize pair of idiot blockheads, hadn't they? Honestly, he sometimes had no idea how they'd survived. He smiled faintly. "I didn't know you felt that way," he admitted.

Kaname had felt both weak and cruel for his indulgence in Zero's blood back then. He'd felt like an alcoholic who had fallen off the wagon, but he couldn't help himself. The blood tablets had ceased to do anything for him. He had hardly been able to even stand looking at them, much less take them. In the darkness of not knowing who had done such harm to his gentle Yuki everyone became a suspect, especially those who had cause to hate and target him due to his actively pacifist ideals.

The young pureblood had felt bitter and angry, betrayed by a dream of peace that seemed to bring nothing but bloodshed. He had been trying to do the right thing all his life. He took the tablets, he refused to turn humans unless given no choice and he fought for coexistence when it seemed the whole world was against it. Yet in the end it seemed that his efforts had done nothing but take everyone he ever loved away from him. His parents, Cross... now maybe Yuki and Zero too.

Kaname had felt like he was falling, and in that dark, acidic loneliness he could not find the strength nor desire to fight against his nature any longer. He wanted blood. He _needed_ blood. Not just any blood, he needed _Zero's blood_, because the blood of a bondmate was the only thing that could come close to soothing the horrible burn inside him. So he had taken it, and kept taking it - a lot of it. He'd not been particularly considerate of whether or not Zero was okay with that, which he was sure had only added to their growing estrangement.

Always, Kaname told himself he was going to have more control next time, but it never worked out that way. Always again when Zero was feeding, the urge would become too strong, his hunger and need for blood and for Zero too great and once more Kaname would silently slip his fangs into the neck before him. He was usually gentle, but he'd known Zero probably didn't want it. Zero would stiffen and tense. He would be more brooding and angry than ever afterwards, but oddly, he had never protested or pushed Kaname away.

Until, of course, the horrible day Kaname had tried to turn Yuki and everything had gone to absolute hell. After their fight that day, Zero had stopped coming to Kaname for blood, and after a few weeks Kaname had eventually had to force himself back onto the blood tablets in order to resist the strong urge to start taking from the nobles who hung silently and anxiously around in the shadows all the time, far too earnest and willing to offer help which he knew he should not accept.

"Yeah, well, I didn't realize I felt that way half the time myself," Zero confessed, his tone still wry. "Everything was really screwed up. But that was a long time ago, I'm more interested in right now..."

Kaname's idea of a _long time_ was obviously different from Zero's, but even he had to agree that if nothing else it _felt _like a long time ago. "What about right now, Zero?" he asked, titling his head curiously.

"Well..." Zero hesitated. He obviously wanted to say something and it was apparently difficult for him. The meandering turns of their conversation supported that notion, since Zero was usually rather straightforward and even blunt when he had something on his mind. "I think... I mean..." Zero stopped himself, realizing how stupid he probably sounded and he drew a deep breath, squaring his shoulders and pushing off the weird hesitation chasing around inside of him that really had no place being there. He loved Kaname, he would do anything for him, so what was the big deal?

"I'd like you to drink my blood, Kaname." Pushing past his awkwardness, Zero just came out and said it. "Not only when we're making love, or you're hurt, but when you're just thirsty too. I want you to be able to take from me like I do from you, I want... I want to be _enough _for you." _I want to fulfill all your needs and give you what you would have if you were with anyone else. I don't want to feel like I'm always shortchanging you as a lover and a partner. _

Ever since Zero had first seen Kaname and Nasser together, before he'd understood their terrible history, he'd become increasingly aware of everything Kaname had given up by choosing not only a non-pureblood mate, but also an ex-human one. Surely, no born vampire would have been so dense as to take more than five years to realize that it wasn't normal for Kaname to still be on blood tablets when he was not only in a committed relationship, but even shared a full-fledged _bond _with his lover.

Kaname's gaze was so surprised, so pleased and so infinitely tender as he regarded the ex-human that it helped Zero feel less weird and embarrassed about what he'd just said. When Kaname looked at him like that, it was easy to forget about _everything. _

"Zero, you are so much more than _enough_," he whispered, both hands now cupping his lover's face. "You leave me with absolutely no lacking in my life. _None,_" his eyes were loving and serious, as if he could read some part of Zero's thoughts from his expression. "You accept me with all my flaws and idiosyncrasies, it is no hardship for me to respect your feelings and quirks as well. That's what love _is_. I neverwant my touch to become a burden or an obligation..."

"It isn't," Zero insisted, more sure of himself now. "Kaname, I mean it. I _want _this. _**I **_want it. For me as much as for you."

The smile dancing around Kaname's lips revealed his delight as he leaned in and kissed the hunter thoroughly. "You..." he murmured into the kiss, his fingers running through those beloved, silky silver tresses. "...never cease to amaze me, you know that? Just when I think I have you all figured out, you pop something new out of left field."

Zero chuckled, his fingers curling around the back of Kaname's neck and pulling him closer, tilting his head to get more of Kaname's deliciously talented tongue into his mouth. "Maybe you should... stop thinking you can know everything..." he retorted. "And was that an attempt at a sports analogy? Now _that _is amazing..."

"Shut up..." Kaname half-chuckled, half growled, proceeding to keep Zero's mouth too busy for anymore speech for a minute or two. Presently the pureblood's warm mouth trailed lower, sliding down Zero's neck to find the throbbing pulse point that he loved so well and licking it sensually in a way that made Zero's insides curl and throb.

"You're sure?" Kaname murmured against Zero's now moist skin.

Zero grunted impatiently. "Yes, damn it, I'm sure. Quit acting like it's the first time you've ever bitten me. Sheesh." He'd had Kaname's teeth in him many, many times. Enough times to no longer fear it. Enough times to no longer be able to feel repulsed by the act, at least, not with Kaname. Enough times to know how much he wanted it and how good it felt. Enough times to realize that he truly had no problem with the idea of it becoming a more frequent event.

Zero felt his lover's grin against his throat before those wickedly skillful twin points sank into his skin, the strong, warm tongue pressing against his neck, lapping along the edges of the tingling penetration. Kaname's firm lips closed against his skin. The suction of his slow, sensual drinking and the hot, stomach curling rush of feeling the blood being drawn from his body in this manner made Zero's breath come short and his hands fist in Kaname's hair. The hunter stumbled backwards a few steps and Kaname effortlessly maneuvered him into a small turn that let him pressed Zero's back to the wall. Pinning one of Zero's wrists to the wall by his head, the pureblood pressed his body into his lover's as he slowly and deliciously ravaged his neck.

It seemed that there was probably no such thing as a _simple drink _when it came to Kaname. His bite was always like pure, liquid seduction. He didn't take much, but he took it delectably slow. Zero was breathing heavily and completely flushed by the time the dark head withdrew and he found himself no longer pinned to the wall.

Deliciously dazed, he touched his neck lightly to see if he needed to clean up, but Kaname had left not a trace of blood upon his already healing skin. "Show off," Zero muttered, partially about how annoyingly neat Kaname was able to be when he drank and mostly because of how completely mind-blowing he made it feel.

Kaname chuckled. There was a lustrous shine in his sated eyes and a subtle increase in the devastating attractiveness of his features that was typical right after feeding. "You didn't like it?" he teased, knowing otherwise.

Zero scowled slightly, still feeling weak-kneed. "Liked it too much, moron. Now I want to jump you instead of finish getting dressed, and we haven't got time. Can't you ever just _drink_?"

Kaname gave him an innocent look. "I did. It's not my fault if some of us are more gifted than others..." He easily dodged an only half-serious jab from the hunter and caught Zero's wrist, pressing it back to the wall again. "But if I've caused a _problem... _then let me fix it," he said with a deep, promising grin.

Zero felt himself shudder under that heated look. A moment later Kaname was on his knees and Zero's trouser button and zipper were undone with pureblood speed. Half a second after that, and Kaname had the hunter's stiff, warm flesh in his mouth and was devouring it with no less enthusiasm than he had used on his throat a few minutes before.

Zero cried out at the suddenness of it and the intense explosion of heavenly sensation. His head tilted back against the wall and he curled his fist in Kaname's hair. He found himself unable to do little more than hang on tight as Kaname worked him expertly, quickly pushing him over the edge into a swift but blistering release.

Neat as ever, Kaname cleaned him up thoroughly with mouth and tongue before doing Zero's pants back up and rising gracefully to his feet. He made a show of glancing at his watch, grinning deeply. "See? That didn't take too long. Still plenty of time to finish dressing."

Now even more dazed than before, his body still quaking with the aftershocks of pleasure, Zero could only muster up a very feeble glare. "Insatiable. Twit." _But damn... it was good to have him back, wasn't it? _This playful, annoyingly confident side of Kaname had been too long absent lately. Zero had never imagined he could actually _miss_ it, but he realized now that he had.

Pushing off the wall, Zero watched Kaname sauntering off towards the doorway. "Wait, don't you want...?" he nodded towards his lover meaningfully.

Kaname turned back and shook his head, grinning. "Not now, but later... definitely."

* * *

Aido started when his intense concentration on the computer screen in front of him was broken by movement beside him. He realized that Seiren had just placed a cup of hot tea on the nightstand next to him and was now moving back towards her chair, holding her own cup in one hand and her book in the other. He'd been at this for hours, and the bit of light peeping in through the drawn curtains suggested that it was probably early morning.

Thankfully, however, Seiren did not appear inclined to scold him about staying up late like his cousins, nor did she seem to find the late hour tiring. Her nose was already buried back in her book by the time he realized that the tea sounded really good.

He reached for the warm mug and took a sip, the hot, soothing liquid easing the headache he hadn't even fully realized had been eating at him. "Thanks," he murmured, gaze fixing back on his work.

Seiren simply nodded slightly behind her book.

Aido rubbed his eyes and gazed at the information on his screen as if maybe that would help it make more sense. He had painstakingly recreated and extracted data from several of the damaged files. There were others he was still working on, and a few that he feared were utterly beyond repair. The picture that was beginning to emerge from what he had recovered thus far was as troubling as it was puzzling. One conclusion kept presenting itself to him, but it was difficult to fully believe it without further confirmation and neither did it really make sense to him.

If Aido had but known more of Kaname's history, the puzzle would have clicked immediately into place. However, at the current time the missing tiles needed to complete this particular picture were held only by two purebloods and one ex-human. Of those three, only one of them was aware of that which he held.

His head beginning to ache in earnest, Aido finally had to let it fall back against the pillows for a minute. He closed his eyes, willing the tremors running through him away. His skin felt uncomfortably hot and the room seemed to rock like a ship. This had been happening more and more frequently lately. The strange hot flashes and vertigo. He wasn't sure what it meant and he realized it had been quite a while since he last analyzed his blood to see what the virus was up to. He should do that... but not right this minute. He felt too sick. It was hard to even make his eyes focus.

He became ill without warning, quickly pushing aside the laptop and scrabbling for the bowl that remained handy on the nightstand, just in case. A dip in the bed and Seiren's feather light touch on his back told him that she was kneeling beside him. He spent several agonizing minutes throwing up. He would get it under control for a few minutes, but then the nausea would return. Seiren patiently emptied and cleaned the bowl for him between bouts. She said nothing. She had been trained in many things, but how to give comfort was not one of them. Neither did she feel compelled to make useless inquiries about whether he was all right when the answer was obvious. But there still was something comforting about her quiet, reliable presence. Aido decided maybe she was a little bit like Kain that way.

When his stomach finally stopped clenching, Aido flopped back onto the pillows again, his flushed skin soaked in perspiration, pajamas clinging to his clammy body. He was so tired, but felt too poorly for sleep. He glanced towards the laptop, even though he knew he couldn't concentrate any more just now. Seiren slid it out of reach, closing it and setting it aside. He was afraid she was going to try to make him sleep, which he knew was impossible right now, but instead she slid another cup of tea that she'd procured from somewhere into his hands and walked over to the TV.

Without explanation, she flipped it on and adjusted the input until it was showing not a normal station, but a direct feed from a camera that was apparently overlooking the very courtyard in which Kaname's press conference was to take place. People were already beginning to arrive, mostly camera crews and a few early guests who loitered about, waiting to get a good seat. The angle of the camera said it was mounted on one of the buildings. Aido realized that Seiren had probably either planted it in advance or taken over a security camera already there in order to get an uninterrupted view of the scene not dependent upon whatever the media did and didn't want to broadcast.

Despite how crappy he felt, a smile grew on Aido's face as he carefully sipped his tea. He glanced at Seiren and saw a small, rare smile there as well. He supposed he should have realized that she probably was no more happy about having to miss this than he was. It wasn't quite like being there, but it was better than nothing, and laying still and watching was about all he wanted to do right now anyway. He was starting to feel a bit better after throwing up, but he was still dizzy.

Seiren pulled her chair over beside the bed, facing the TV. She left briefly and when she returned Aido was surprised to see that she was holding a bowl of popcorn of all things.

He laughed despite himself as she settled into her chair. "Popcorn and a movie? I didn't know this was a date," he teased, pushing his pillows up behind him, against the headboard, so he could sit a little more comfortably. The tea was settling his stomach and he made a gesture for the popcorn. Despite the recent throwing up, he was starting to feel kind of hungry again for the first time in a while.

"Trust me, it's not," Seiren said blandly, staring at the TV as she popped a kernel into her mouth, keeping the bowl away from Aido. "And you don't get any unless you promise you won't just throw it up again."

"How am I supposed to promise something like that?" Aido pouted.

Seiren shrugged, relenting and shifting the bowl onto the bed where he could reach it too. After all, she'd really had it made for him. It was only lightly buttered and salted and would have the same stomach settling properties as dry toast, which Aido currently avowed to hate after how much he'd been eating it.

Aido nibbled at the popcorn slowly, watching the people begin taking their seats on the TV. When Kaname and Zero showed up his gaze followed them, his attention more firmly caught. Beside him, Seiren's eyes tracked the same path.

Aido liked being able to feel a part of what was happening from a distance, although the event was admittedly rather boring in itself. That's how these things were though, it was knowing what lay behind it that made it interesting. After all, it wasn't as if he were expecting any riveting drama to crop up at a diplomatic press event.

He had no idea how wrong that assumption would prove to be.

* * *

The morning sun was bright overhead in the blue, almost cloudless sky. The large, garden courtyard beside the massive and regally imposing structure of the Regent Hotel was thronged with people. The garden hosted a number of fountains, rambles and a wide lawn facing a podium which was often used for civic functions due to its photogenic setting and the comfortable ease with which it could be modified to accommodate anything from an intimate gathering to a full blown event. Today's activities leaned towards the latter. The courtyard was crawling with press and spectators and orderly rows of white chairs had been spread across the green lawn around the upraised podium.

Backed by the wall of the hotel on one side and an artfully tended strand of trees on the other, the podium was large enough to host any number of dignitaries while remaining easily visible even from far back in the crowd.

In good weather, it was a great place to hold parties, fundraisers and press conferences - unless of course you were a vampire. For people of the night, the radiant morning sun and airy brightness of the courtyard weren't exactly the most delightful of settings.

Zero wasn't sure whose idea it was to hold this thing outside in broad, brilliant daylight, but Kaname obviously mustn't have been seriously against it or he could have had the location moved easy enough. He and Nasser would both be equally incommoded by the setting, but Kaname had probably allowed it in order to cut down on how many extraneous vampires would be numbered among the immediate onlookers.

There were still some there, of course. Many vampires were able to tolerate the daylight at need and some had reason to want to be here. Zero could see Kain, Ruka and Shiki seated in one of the front rows, all three wearing sunglasses and studiously giving no indication of discomfort. There were many humans in the crowd wearing sunglasses against the brightness of the day as well, so they did not stand out.

Among the delegates on the platform, upon whom the lenses of all the cameras were focused, there were fewer people who chose to don protective eyewear. Takuma, on Kaname's right, had been wearing shades earlier, but they were in his pocket now. He knew the need for appearances and had always tolerated sunlight fairly well for one of their kind.

The two purebloods were posturing, of course. Kaname and Nasser were both purposefully _not _wearing sunglasses at all, despite how much the light surely hurt their highly sensitive eyes. Of course, neither was Zero, but then he usually didn't. He was well used to dealing with daylight and easily tuned out the discomfort.

Zero stood quietly behind Kaname as various dignitaries and other important personages spoke at length on the situation in An'swala and the more general topics of global safety and international cooperation, etcetera, etcetera. They waxed eloquent for the onlookers and for the assembled horde of press who were no doubt already turning their lengthy speeches into 30 second sound bytes in their minds.

Aside from the vampires he knew, Zero's roving gaze spotted some other familiar faces in the crowd as well, including a rather bored looking one which was mostly hidden beneath the brim of a distinctive cowboy hat. There was quite a strong hunter presence here this morning. That did not surprise Zero. Two purebloods who were known to be unfriendly towards one another were at the center of a human-packed event. The hunters were bound to take a keen interest. Yagari may look bored, but Zero felt that his sensei had little cause for complaint - he had not been part of the near disastrous hunt last night, so he at least had probably gotten some sleep.

Despite his own lack of sleep, however, Zero did not feel tired. Quite the opposite, he felt strangely alert and on edge. It was perhaps due to the same thing that was keeping him from being completely bored out of his mind. The malevolent presence of Nasser, seated just a few chairs down from Kaname, was evoking a certain, uneasy wariness in his senses.

Outwardly a picture of calm, Nasser wasn't happy and his subtle aura was not a pleasant one for those who could feel it. Zero wondered if Yagari was feeling the same sense of unease, or if it was his vampire senses rather than his hunter ones which were crawling. It was hard to tell sometimes. He got the very slight impression that Kaname had noticed it, at least. Although you would have had to know Kaname as well as he did to notice, since the pureblood was very good at not giving himself away.

Pureblood auras normally protected them from one another, but Kaname still couldn't completely block Nasser out like he could any other pureblood. The elder vampire was intentionally reminding him of that fact and giving him a headache, but Kaname actually took a grim satisfaction in his opponent's petty hissy fit. It just proved that he'd ticked Nasser off and that _pleased _him.

Nasser had every reason to fume. Kaname had completely won their wager and there was no way for him to reverse it now. He couldn't even _think _of trying to pull any further shenanigans with Mission Oil, not only because it would be PR suicide, but because any number of governmental bodies would quickly become involved in anything that smacked of interference with the attempts at peace and stability in An'swala.

Of course, Nasser was nothing if not politically savvy. He'd jumped sides on this matter gracefully in order to minimize any possibility of overall damage to Orion through all this. Trifecta he was willing to sacrifice to the vagaries of global scrutiny, after all he could simply take over them with another sub-company when they eventually folded, but the important thing was to keep the damage localized.

Accordingly, he now quite smoothly positioned himself in the best light possible by having Orion ostensibly join Kaname's little joint venture for the restoration of An'swala. He generously "donated" all of his shares in Mission Oil back to the An'swalan royal family and pledged a significant sum to help with cleanup and rebuilding. He announced all this when it was his turn to speak and it was met with much approval by the assembly.

It was the best course for him to take, but Kaname's satisfied little smile remained in place the entire time he was speaking. Nasser intentionally ignored him. No doubt Kaname had known his opponent must do this to save face, no doubt the younger pureblood counted on and took pleasure from the fact that Nasser was going to end up paying to clean up a lot of the mess he himself had made. Really, he had to give the boy points on the judicious cleverness of that, even as it irritated him.

He knew it was only his pride that was pricked, so he let it go for now. An'swala held no further importance to him _now_. Kaname could havethe miserable little scrap of a country for all he cared. The boy was still blind to the real truth and as for this humiliation, well... Nasser planned to get his own back soon enough. He was contradictorily both proud of Kaname's resourcefulness and angry about losing. It was a strange mix that defied easy description. He wanted to punish Kaname for thwarting him, but not necessarily crush the boy completely. Not when he was just starting to get interesting.

The event went smoothly enough. Kaname spoke last and was clearly one of the most anticipated of the speakers. Cameras flashed frenetically and after he delivered his statements questions shot rapidly from the gathered reporters. He answered them gracefully for a time until finally calling the session to a close by stepping away from the microphones.

The delegates began exiting the podium, the crowd breaking up and milling about, although most of them were not yet ready to disperse. Formalities were over, but throngs of reporters now crowded the individual delegates as they took their leave, pressing questions that had not yet been addressed.

A gaggle of reporters followed Takuma as he joined Senri on the lawn and others chased off after the diplomats, but many more focused their attentions on Kaname and Nasser who, as a result, were quickly becoming the last two people still on the podium itself.

Zero knew that Kaname was allowing the follow up interviews, because when Kaname was truly ready to leave, he would simply walk away and people would clear a path for him without even realizing they were doing it. Still, the hunter glared and shouldered away a few over-eager reporters who pressed too close to the young pureblood. None of them took any offense, they were obviously used to protective bodyguards and attendants as a natural hazard of their jobs.

Nasser too was granting the reporters their audience, although he had no attendants with him at all, which was a little odd. For some reason, the fact that Nasser had chosen not to have a bodyguard today made Zero uneasy. Or maybe it was just the press of all these people. Zero was not a fan of crowds. The jostling reporters reminded him of his school days. He was surprised to find some group of people who could actually manage to be more aggressive than the Day Class girls had been, although at least the reporters weren't swooning over the objects of their interest.

Then, the jostle of the crowd suddenly brought Kaname and Nasser into the same little sphere of space by the south end of the podium. It seemed like a natural happenstance as they were both making their way towards the stairs, but Kaname knew better. Nasser had ended up here because he wanted to be here. Inwardly, the younger pureblood tensed warily, but outwardly he appeared unconcerned, finishing a few answers to the assembled crowd before turning to head for the stairs, clearly done talking and ready to leave now.

"Ah, here's the young man of the hour himself..." Nasser was beside him, a supposedly friendly hand on Kaname's shoulder to arrest his departure. "Quite a tour de force of civic minded thinking today. You must be pleased."

Kaname gracefully managed not to tense up at the contact. Unable to avoid Nasser or betray his true feelings towards him in front of so many watching eyes, Kaname turned a polite, charming smile on the older man. "I think it can always be considered a success when people find ways to bridge distances and difficulties with a little well-though-out cooperation and understanding."

Nasser grinned, his mocking eyes congratulating Kaname on a lovely quote that was sure to make the feel-good cut on a number of stations. "But of course. I like to think of myself as a man who recognizes good ideas when they come along and I congratulate you on your... forward thinking."

Nasser held out his hand to shake and Kaname had no choice but to take it. He did so without hesitation, giving a brisk, firm squeeze, both of them smiling with fake politeness for the flashing cameras.

Nasser did not let go. Still holding Kaname's hand, he leaned forward, cheek brushing Kaname's as his lips moved close to the younger pureblood's ear. To the onlookers it simply seemed that the head of Orion was leaning close to have a private word with the other CEO. That was, in fact, what Nasser was doing, but what he _said_ was not something that any of the spectators could possibly have guessed.

Zero bristled at Nasser's actions. Kaname had expressly told him not to make a big deal out of it if Nasser got too close to him while they were in public because that would be exactly what the elder pureblood _wanted, _but the hunter immediately stepped towards them anyway.

"I'm also a man who believes in paying his debts - promptly and in full," Nasser whispered in Kaname's ear, his hand tightening around that of his companion, pleased to feel Kaname's discomfort with his nearness. "You won our little bet, so as promised, I will tell you what you want to know about that unfortunate little girl's death. Although, as I told you in the beginning, there's some irony involved and you may not feel better for knowing the truth."

Nasser's voice was pitched low to keep his words from the ears of the reporters, but they were just audible to Zero's advanced hearing. They froze him in place with a swell of old emotion that was not easily put aside. _Yuki... the bastard was talking about Yuki. _

"I figured it out, you know," Nasser whispered, his breath warm against the shell of Kaname's ear. "I found out she was what held you bound to that pathetic cage they had you in all those years. She was why you wouldn't come to me. She held you back from what you could become. So you see, Kaname... that's why _I _killed her."

Kaname felt his body go ridged. Something hot, hard, seething and sick overran the fringes of his consciousness, making his chest tighten in anger and pain. Nasser could have been lying... but somehow Kaname knew he wasn't. Somehow... he'd already known. The long awaited revelation both was and yet wasn't a shock in a strange way that was hard to explain. He realized that deep down, some part of him had suspected as much for a while now. He simply hadn't wanted to accept it so his mind had hidden behind the fact that there were many possible alternate scenarios and shielded itself from the truth, shying away from this explanation in contemptible cowardice. Because if Nasser was the killer it meant that Yuki had been targeted solely because of her association with him and by forgetting his past, he had rendered himself blind to the threat he might otherwise have been able to prevent. Because if Nasser was the killer... then it opened a truly terrible possibility about the manner in which her death had been brought about. A possibility that jammed a knife so deep in Kaname's gut it felt as if it had physically passed straight through him.

"Ah, but I misspeak slightly. In point of fact all I did was make her _ill... __**you **_killed her," Nasser purred in his ear, putting the possibility into words and so fixing it unchangeably into fact, unerringly finding Kaname' rawest spot and twisting the knife where it hurt worst. "_You _were my murder weapon, Kaname. Wasn't it brilliant?" The elder pureblood was smiling viciously now. "It _looked_ bad, but she didn't have to die. The illness would have run its course eventually. She would have survived, _if_ you hadn't tried to turn her... but of course, I knew you would. Tell me, Kaname. What was it like? Did you hold her? Did she suffer terribly? Did you tell yourself there was nothing you could have done, while deep down knowing the truth?" Nasser's voice was a seductive hiss, coiling expertly around Kaname's senses and provoking the harshest possible reaction as he brutally mingled fact with fiction.

It was the cruelest kind of half-truth he could have told. He knew full well that the girl would have died anyway, but he also knew that Kaname would accept this darker version of events without question. The young pureblood still did not grasp the full picture and had obviously feared this very idea for years, making the deception simple. It had always been thus with Kaname - he believed the worst of himself so all Nasser had to do was agree. All Nasser had to do was tell the boy what his own guilty heart already believed. Of course, it also helped that he was leaning extremely hard on the younger vampire's senses.

Kaname felt a rushing sensation as if he'd plunged underwater. Everything around them fell away from his awareness. The buzz of the crowd, the whirring click-pop of press cameras and the shouting reporters, the glare of camera lighting and jostling bodies - it all vanished away into darkness and at that moment in time there was only he and Nasser in the entire world. He, Nasser, and the ghosts of the past that slammed into him with a clawing, tearing mixture of pain and rage that consumed all thought and reason.

He loved Zero now with his entire being, but that did not diminish how much he had once loved Yuki. He had held her as an infant and felt her small warmth against him. He had watched her grow into a beautiful young woman. Both as child and adult, he had sworn an oath to always protect her and ultimately, he had failed utterly to do so.

The beating of his own heart seemed suddenly to drown out all sound - a raw, furious pulsing that thundered in slow motion like the tick of the hands of time winding backwards as scenes and memories rushed forward to crowd his mind, replaying an eon of pain in the space of an instant.

_Thump..._

_Birds screeching lazily in the trees overhead. The tolling of the bell tower near Cross Academy. Yuki, sprawled unconscious on the ground, dark bruises around her throat and forming across her face, her uniform torn... _

_Thump..._

_The hateful, antiseptic smell of the sick and dying. The wailing shriek of electronic monitoring equipment. Yuki, in a hospital bed, convulsing in his arms as he held her, his mind and heart frozen in a pain that had never truly healed. Blood seeped from her nose, mouth and eyes as it turned toxic... as he killed her by trying to save her._

_Thump..._

_The furious beating of Zero's heart and the absolute, pained hatred in his eyes. "How could you violate her like that, without considering the danger?" _

_Kaname felt like the breath had left his body, a fist squeezing his chest until it seemed his ribs would crack. He didn't want to be here again. He didn't want to see that hatred in Zero's eyes again, to know he deserved it and so much more. _

_"Maybe once in your friggin' life you should have thought you might just not have all the answers." _Zero's voice from long ago bounced accusingly around in his head. He'd been right. Completely right.

_"I hate you. I hate you..." _

_Thump..._

Kaname thought it was the past. He'd thought he'd started to heal from the loss, from the pain of that troubled time, and he _had_... but his own possible culpability was something he had never truly been able to face or reconcile. He had buried it, but the wound was still there and Nasser had managed to bring it all back to him, as raw and as painful as when it had just happened. Nasser's eyes said he knew that. They said he knew _exactly_ what he was doing. He had always been able to find the seams in Kaname's armor much too well.

"She should have been honored, really," Nasser hissed with a cruelly amused smirk, caressing Kaname with his mind in that way that Kaname couldn't fend off and which made his whole body crawl. "I did it personally. She was only some little human thing, but she got my personal attention. I wanted to see what it was that could possibly have drawn you so. But I have to admit... I still don't understand. I saw nothing remarkable about her. She wasn't even that pretty, although she did _scream _very prettily when I made her feel as if her very blood was on fire... when I held her down and squeezed her thin little throat until she cried and pleaded... did you know she screamed for you? Or tried to, anyway." He smiled darkly. "It was such a pity I had to take all those memories from her so she wouldn't describe her assailant to you," he added with a small sigh. "But you know..." his voice became a sibilant, evil purr. "_I _still have them."

The fingertips of Nasser's free hand pressed suddenly against Kaname's chest. Physically, the touch was feather light but mentally, it was ruthless. Nasser knew the paths to take to touch Kaname's mind around his defenses. He'd explored and mapped them out inch by excruciating inch years ago, and had confirmed that his inroads were still there during that initial negotiation meeting with the younger pureblood last week. He used them now. With a vicious force, Nasser shoved the memories into Kaname.

Kaname felt his breath leave him in a rush as the scene Nasser thrust into him burned his mind. Nasser had sucked Yuki's memories of the attack from her, but he'd held onto them, and now they were screaming inside Kaname's head, acting like they were his own, but a hundred times worse because he knew they weren't.

_He was on the ground, he was screaming in pain as the smirking pureblood over him made the blood flowing through his veins burn like acid. Only it was Yuki's voice screaming, it was her pain and helplessness tearing through him and he could do nothing to help her. Then the mental view abruptly switched and Kaname was inside Nasser's memory of the event instead, feeling his cruel enjoyment as he looked down at the writhing girl on the ground._

For a moment Kaname fought to make it stop, fought to get to dear, familiar form of the screaming girl, but he forced himself to cease when the rumble of Nasser's cruel mental laughter swelled around him. He knew that no matter how real this _felt_, these were just memories - illusionary ghosts of what had once been. He couldn't change the past, but he could damn well make the bastard who had done this _pay_.

_The heart-wrenching, sobbing voice in his head screamed his name. Screamed Zero's name. Screamed his again... and again... and he hadn't heard her. Oh God... Oh God, he hadn't heard her..._

The pounding in Kaname's ears took over his entire consciousness, spiraling outward as sheer pain, hatred and rage blotted out all the light in his soul and all the reason from his mind. He was no longer aware of the people around him. Was not aware of the fact that the formerly bright morning had suddenly darkened as black as if a storm was rolling in. Was not aware of the strong wind had that started to blow, knocking over plastic chairs and making people grab for hats and skirts. Was not aware that the crowd was suddenly trembling with a fear they did not understand, the reporters confused and frightened as the lenses on their cameras started shattering and popping like crystal blowing apart under the reverberating echo of a devastating, supersonic chord.

The air pressure changed abruptly, dropping painfully as if someone had depressurized the cabin of an airplane at 40,000 feet. People screamed, some dropped to their knees, clutching their heads. The ground shook. One by one, the windows of the hotel behind them and the other tall buildings surrounding the courtyard started blowing out as if shattered by a rolling wave of explosions, filling the air with a sharp, crystalline rain of broken glass.

Zero, standing just behind Kaname, knew all too well what was happening. For a long, suffocating moment he could do nothing, rooted to the spot by a swirling myriad of his own raw emotions coupled with the strong forces of pureblood will which were suddenly being brought into play. Thankfully, he could not see or feel the brutal memories that Nasser had pushed into Kaname, but an angry, swelling surge of rage and horror over what had just been said washed through him all the same. _This_ was the man... _this_ was the person who had killed Yuki, who was responsible for so much of their pain... for so much of Kaname's pain, both now and in the past. Zero had already hated Nasser as much as one person could hate another, but he could not deny that the burning, tearing throb of the rage flaring through him now reached a whole new level of murderous intensity.

On top of that, he found himself echoing with Kaname's anger and pain as well. The pureblood's emotions had gone dark in a way Zero had never felt before. There was something wild and elemental about it, like a black, swirling vortex that would suck in the very sun itself. It almost sucked Zero in, but the young hunter did not lose his individuality so easily. Because of their bond he had experience being close to Kaname's immense mental strength while remaining separate from it. After having lived through Kaname's memories with him some days before, after having blended their minds that deep without losing himself in the process, it was easier this time for Zero to pull out of the figurative mental whirlpool his lover was unintentionally creating. He strained back from the edge of the abyss, forcing his head to clear as he heard the windows start to shatter about them and witnessed the crowd scattering as they screamed and ran for cover, not understanding what was happening.

Only a handful of people weren't running. Zero realized with a jolt that none of the vampires in the crowd were fleeing. Closest at hand, a few dozen feet from the podium he could see Takuma, Shiki, Kain and Ruka, and there were others beyond them whom he didn't know, including several of the reporters. None of the vampires were moving, but it wasn't due to a lack of fear. Something else had taken over them. They were unusually still and Zero felt a chill as he saw that all of their eyes had gone red.

He knew then, what was happening. It was Kaname. They were responding to the same pull he had felt a moment ago, but they did not have the ability to resist that he did. They had all been sucked into the pureblood's dark fury and they reverberated back his swirling emotions, ready to act as extensions of his will and his wishes whether Kaname was conscious of commanding them or not. They would walk into the jaws of death if they felt he wanted them to... and Zero feared that was exactly what would happen if they made a single move either towards the podium or anywhere else while they looked like _that_. For one thing, the hunters in the crowd had to be freaking out about now and red-eyed vampires were not going to go over well. For another, Zero had seen firsthand the intense power which Nasser commanded. If the pureblood thought the nobles were going to attack, he could kill them all with a sweep of his hand.

As this thought winged through his mind, Zero's gaze slid back to Nasser... and he saw that the elder pureblood was smiling. A dark, triumphant smile that told Zero everything he needed to know. _The freaking bastard... _he was doing it _again_. He was manipulating Kaname - intentionally gouging so deeply into his old, ill healed scars that it was sure to garner this reaction. He was intentionally pushing the younger pureblood to lose control and attack. This was Nasser's spiteful payback for his loss, and it was going to be Kaname who came out the bad end of this.

Suddenly Zero understood the larger consequences beyond the immediate chaos. The world was watching. If Kaname not only broke the peace treaty by blowing the lid off the secret of vampire existence while accidentally hurting and possibly killing a lot of bystanders in the process, but also completely lost it and attacked another pureblood apparently without provocation in front of hundreds of witnesses... he would be in a world of trouble with the hunters and vampires both. Just as bad, Zero knew what it would do to Kaname when he realized what he'd done. Nasser on the other hand would once again walk away scot-free while successfully leaving Kaname to reap the dire repercussions for simply reacting in pain when the older pureblood mentally and emotionally assaulted him.

_**No.**_

Something inside Zero whispered the word with an absolute, furious certainty. _No._ He wasn't going to let that happen. He wasn't going to let this _bastard _victimize Kaname _again. _This man was through hurting his lover, was _through_ making a wreck of both of their lives whenever he damn well felt like it.

Zero wrapped his arms around Kaname from behind, pulling the pureblood's tense body back against his chest. "Kaname, stop!" he pleaded, trying to reach his lover on all levels. "This is what he wants! He's provoking you!" But even as he spoke, Zero knew it was too late. From this angle he couldn't see the single-minded, murderous rage burning on his lover's face as Kaname directed the full weight of his wrath towards the person he had good cause to hate most in this world. Zero couldn't see it, but he could feel it in Kaname's body. His lover's anger and pain were too great to be contained and Zero could already feel it like a cresting wave, beginning to explode outward as it reached crescendo. Even if Zero could get through to him, Kaname physically couldn't pull it back now.

Somewhere in the chaos Zero heard Yagari's voice raised, shouting above the roar of exploding glass and the unnatural wind, demanding that the vampires stand down. Zero didn't need to look to know that Kaname and Nasser were now the focus of every hunter weapon in the area. Those would not be in short supply given how many hunters he'd noticed on the scene earlier. Zero knew all too well what the hunters would do if this situation escalated. Right now, either of the purebloods could have been causing this commotion. The instant it became clear that Kaname was responsible... he would become their target and they would take him down or die trying.

Zero knew what he had to do. It wasn't a hard choice, not now. At this moment, it was what he _wanted_ to do more than anything, despite whatever consequences may come.

With a hoarse cry that was more of a roar, Zero let himself go. He felt the white hot spike of power pull through him as he called on it, allowing it freedom and sending it forth with a force he had never used before. It responded eagerly to him, as if it had been waiting for him to be ready, as if it _wanted_ to be set free, to grow... to hunt... to twine... to find the enemy.

* * *

In the back of the crowd, Toga Yagari swore loudly, tossing down his cigarette and snatching his shotgun from under his coat when the first wave of vampire power washed out across the plaza. "Kaito!" he barked a heads up to his companion, although it was obviously unnecessary since Kaito too had brought out his weapon.

As the windows started shattering and falling like a deadly rain and the crowd scattered, the hunters spread about the plaza converged, pushing their way through the panicking throng. They moved quickly, leaving crowd control in the hands of the normal security police who were doing their best to get everyone to safety.

_Safety, ha! _Yagari knew that what they were experiencing was the work of a pureblood vampire, which meant that no one within miles of here was anything remotely like _safe. _He didn't know what was happening, but something was going seriously wrong and it had to be stopped or a shitload of people were going to die.

He saw the way the vampires that had been in the crowd now stood alone in the emptying courtyard, their eyes red and faces blank. He swore again.

"Do not fire!" he barked to the other hunters who were converging on his position. They were regarding the vamped-out bystanders with raised weapons and wary eyes. "Repeat, do not fire unless they attack!" he shouted when several of his companions sent him questioning looks. "They're just getting sucked in, the problem's up there!" he jerked his head towards the podium where Nasser, Kaname and Zero now stood alone in the center of the storm.

Many hunters would have felt it prudent to put down the most easily manageable part of the threat first, but Yagari had not gotten as far as he had by having a "kill everything that has fangs" attitude. Maybe Cross had rubbed off on him too much, or maybe Zero had, but Yagari _knew _some of these vampires, and he knew they wouldn't normally cause trouble unless they couldn't help it. If they attacked, the hunters would have to put them down, but he wasn't going to have them shooting people who were just _standing_ there. Besides, some of these vampires were highly placed individuals and their deaths would cause repercussions.

Yagari glared towards the podium again. _Damn it, Kuran, what's going on? _There was no way for him to tell which of the purebloods glaring at each other was causing the problem yet, but Yagari knew Kaname and felt he should know better than to allow this kind of thing to happen in a public place like this. Something was wildly wrong though, that was clear. Zero had wrapped his arms around the younger pureblood, holding onto him tightly and Yagari didn't know whether that meant they were being attacked, or whether Zero was trying to stop Kaname _from _attacking.

All weapons were now trained on the vampires on the podium and several of the hunters were hurriedly trying to set a charm circle around them to contain the area. Yagari didn't know how much good that would do against two purebloods. Usually not much, but their hope was that Ardon and Kuran were obviously interested in fighting _each other_ and therefore would not be working in tandem against the hunters.

Yagari shouted for Kaname and Nasser to stand down, but he wasn't at all surprised when no one even looked in his direction. He knew which one of the blood suckers he'd _rather _target, but he also knew that in another few moments everyone up there was going to become fair game. Including Zero. _Shit, shit, shit! _Hoping his apprentice wouldn't get in the way if his lover was targeted was a futile wish and Yagari knew it. Dread that had nothing to do with the raging pureblood aura about them filled him.

His hunter senses screamed with warning as the pressure built to critical. Something was about to happen. Something very bad. "Get down!" he shouted to his companions even as his instincts told him that that wouldn't save them. Just about nothing was going to save them when that building wave broke, and he could feel in his chest that it was just about to shatter.

Suddenly, Yagari heard Zero give a cry, and something very different from what he had been expecting happened. Everyone still in the courtyard or sheltering around the edges of it watched in shock and no little awe as a furious explosion of tangled, thorny vines shot from Zero's body, from the podium behind him, around him, from the walls and the bushes, from practically thin air itself. The thicket grew up in such a rush there was barely time to see it happen. In the space of a heartbeat that corner of the courtyard had become a veritable jungle and the entire podium was cloaked in a protective mesh of vines so thick you could no longer see, nor reach the three people who had been standing there a moment before.

Apparently, nothing _inside_ could reach _out_ either, because the instant the wall of thorns closed around the podium the pressure in the air lessened, the wind died down and the windows stopped exploding. From somewhere inside the unnatural thicket, there was a hollow, echoing boom, like the passage of a distant jet fighter breaking the sound barrier. The earth rumbled under their feet like an earthquake, causing the buildings around them to sway visibly.

Yagari climbed back to his feet quickly. Other than Kaname, he alone was actually aware that Zero possessed this power, but he'd _never _seen his apprentice use it to this extent, nor imagined that he _could_. It was unbelievable. Zero had actually created a barrier that could at least temporarily contain the full blast of a pureblood's power. A blast which could otherwise have easily leveled half the city. _Holy crap...!_

Yagari shook off his shock with the skill of a trained soldier. There was no way to know how long this unexpected intervention would last. They needed to take advantage of the time they had been given. They needed to try and help, if they could. "Get that damn circle laid and charged, _now!_" Yagari ordered, and the others obeyed, quickly tracing charms into the earth around the vined-off podium and charging them up, creating another layer of protection around the one that Zero had created. When that was done, they created another circle outside the first, and another, and another, strengthening the spelled enclosure with every additional layer.

The eyes of the vampires standing around them still burned red, but they were starting to revert slowly. The vampires blinked and shook their heads as if waking from a dream as they too were cut off from the vortex that had been pulling them in.

Yagari turned to the nearest one he knew, giving the blonde's shoulder a rough shake. "Kid, snap out of it," he barked. "What the hell's going on here?"

Takuma shook his head, breathing hard and apparently trying to clear his thoughts. He ran his hand down his face, his red eyes fading back to green with obvious effort. "Kaname..." he gasped softly. Then blinked again as everything he had seen while catatonic processed through his mind. "Zero..." he gasped, looking at the vines in shock. He'd had no idea his friend was capable of _anything _like that. Takuma clutched his head again, obviously still a little under the effects of the earlier compulsion, although perhaps it was more so with him because even with his own will he did _want _to protect Kaname. "Kaname..." he gasped again, softly. "He needs me, I have to..."

Yagari's gaze darkened and he cuffed Takuma upside the back of the head. "I said snap out of it." The vampires were in a much better position than the hunters to know who had started this. He didn't want to hear that it was Kaname who was responsible for this mess. He really, _really_ didn't want to hear that. But that wasn't necessarily what Takuma's words meant, right? "Are you saying Ardon attacked Kuran?" he demanded.

Takuma shuddered once, but his mind had obviously kicked back into gear and he seemed to understand the importance of what Yagari was asking him. Something behind the open green eyes shuttered closed. "Yes," he said simply. "He did."

The others were coming around now as well. Shiki glanced at Takuma but said nothing.

"Of course he did!" Ruka's emphatic voice came from behind them. She rubbed her head painfully and Kain slid an arm around her. Every one of them knew they were lying, but every one of them would have stuck to that story under torture. Ultimately, they knew it was true after a fashion. Somehow, Nasser _had_ to have attacked Kaname, because Kaname wouldn't have reacted like that otherwise. They just hadn't seen how he'd done it. "We have to do something! We..."

Yagari held up his hand. "None of you are going anywhere." He wasn't entirely sure he believed them. They had plenty of reason to be biased, but it did seem more likely and was the version of events which he preferred for his own reasons. If it turned out that Kuran had flipped his lid, then things would be different, but he was willing to wait and see. "Nobody touches those vines. Right now they're the only thing keeping this place from turning into a crater and we don't know what could happen if we mess with them. Kuran can take care of himself." Yagari hoped the same held true for Zero, stuck in there with two purebloods... _geez kid, you really get yourself in the middle of things, don't you? _

"I didn't know Kiriyu could do that," Shiki observed quietly, taking all of this a lot more in stride than the others, as was his disposition.

"Neither did I," Kain admitted. Aido probably hadn't known either, his cousin certainly would have told him about _this. _

Ruka's gaze was fixed on the concealing shroud of vines. "What do you think is happening in there?" she whispered, obviously hating just standing there and being able to do nothing.

Yagari understood her feelings acutely. "No way to know," he muttered, although at that moment, he would have given a lot for the answer.


	35. Blood on the Wall

_A/N: Update again at last! :) It was hard to decide where to break this chapter. I almost broke it earlier and made it more of a cliffie, but decided against it. I feel like parts of this chapter don't flow as well as I would like and it's barely proofed, so I apologize in advance for any gaffs or errors, but hopefully it will still be enjoyable. _

_There's two songs I've been listening to on Within Temptation's new Album "The Unforgiving" that seem to fit this chapter pretty well - Parts of "In the Middle of the Night" and "Murder". Both have a great sense of "that's it, enough, you are now going DOWN" which works with this chappy. The chapter title comes from "In the Middle of the Night". _

_PS - I'm sure everyone's aware by now that this whole story is incredibly AU, but I should probably still mention anyway that what I did with Seiren is not canon, it just works for the purposes of this story. And when I reference Kaname and Rido's history, I'm referring to the history I gave them in Crimson Door, not their canon history. _

**Chapter Thirty-Five: "Blood on the Wall"**

Nasser had realized something was not quite right the moment Kuran's ex-human grabbed onto the younger pureblood. He knew Kaname's rage had already been unleashed too far for the younger pureblood to heed the plea for reason, but Kiriyu shouldn't have been able to make that plea. He shouldn't be _moving_. He should have been as vamped out as the other low bloods around them - no, he should have been _more _vamped out then them since he was both ex-human and Kaname's pet. Nasser's own pureblood aura protected him from the devastating vacuum of Kaname's rage, but the silver haired youth should have had no such protection. If he somehow miraculously hadn't been sucked into the powerful mental current, like the humans who were not affected in that manner, then he should certainly have been blitzed out by the terror of it, as they were.

Zero, however, had none of those predictable reactions. Those strange violet eyes shot Nasser a look like the boy actually _knew_ what the elder vampire was up to and in that instant, Nasser got the first creeping inkling that he might not have accounted for all the variables when he'd set this scenario into play.

He found out just _how _badly he'd miscalculated a moment later. The utter shock he felt when the ex-human produced that writhing, living mass of vines was a unique experience for the ancient vampire. It had been so long since anything had caught him this much by surprise that he actually didn't react fast enough to stop the threatening shroud from closing around them.

Zero knew that there were no halfway measures now. His actions were nothing short of an attack and whether or not it was suicide, he was already fully committed. He didn't stop at sealing off the podium. He let his power flow, freeing the vines to act, feeling them pulse with the co-mingling of a hunter's driving instinct to run down their natural enemy and a vampire's ravenous thirst for prey. The object of both these desires was perfectly personified by Nasser and the thorny vines sought him with an almost sentient craving for destruction.

Kaname felt Zero's arms about him, the only touch that could possibly reach through the immense well of pain and hatred seething in his soul and bring him back to a slight awareness of his surroundings. He had heard his lover's warning and something in him knew that Zero was right, but there was no stopping the fury that Nasser had evoked in him. It was hot, seething, livid and alive with the force of its own hatred. Nasser had pushed him too far, hurt him too much, taken too many things from him. He could not check himself, even had he wanted to. Consequences simply could not matter at this moment.

Consequences for _himself, _anyway. As Zero's vines closed around them and the small part of his mind that had become marginally aware of something outside his anger comprehended what Zero was doing, he realized about half a moment before it was too late that he was now in a position to hurt his lover _very_ seriously.

_No... _Kaname's heart rejected that possibility utterly. No, Nasser would pay, but Zero would be protected. He would shield him no matter what. The surging power had already built to critical, but with a rush of intense effort and concentration he bent the shape of his fury into a fine toned blade. The inside of his head burned with pain at the sudden shift in gears as he spun and funneled the imminent explosion into a more directed shape and threw up as much of a barrier as he was able around them, trying to protect Zero and his vines from the brunt of his coming wrath.

Nasser was back on his game now and reacting swiftly to the new and unforeseen threat that Zero presented. The vines around them created a deadening mass of blankness in his senses, cutting him off from everything outside, which instantly told him that somehow, _unbelievably_, these creations were anti-vampire in nature. An ex-human acquiring any kind of unique power was rare enough, a vampire power that was actually an anti-vampire _weapon_ was completely unheard of. How could the two co-exist without tearing the bearer apart? It was no wonder Kuran kept this boy so close!

He had obviously underestimated the danger of the situation quite badly, but it was not beyond repair. The boy just had to die quickly - something Nasser was more than capable of bringing about with a twist of his mind. He was about to crush the ex-human where he stood before those vines had a chance to touch him, but at the same moment that the razor-edged vines whipped towards his body the full blast of Kaname's volatile rage exploded in the enclosed space. The limited area gave the discharge nowhere to dissipate, increasing the magnitude of it a hundred fold as it bounced around and around the small enclosure.

Kaname was incredibly strong for someone of his relatively tender years, and his wrath towards the other pureblood was white-hot. Nasser had been more than prepared to weather it by itself - in a situation that he had perfectly orchestrated according to his own plans - but nothing about the current situation was according to plan. Dealing with Kaname's attack took his full concentration for a moment. It was only a moment, but it was enough of a delay to keep him from snuffing out the hunter before the vines reached him. The burning, acidic sting of hunter poison from the thorns tearing into his flesh while Kaname's attack battered at his defenses sent Nasser reeling.

The elder pureblood's body burned as the dual assault slammed into him. Defending against Kaname's attack took much more strength than he'd imagined, leaving his head throbbing while his blood blistered as the effect of the hunter poison leached into him. It would have been more than enough to kill ordinary vampires and at least immobilize most other purebloods, but Nasser Ardon was not so easily reckoned with. He was ancient and had consumed the blood of countless generations of his own kind.

The podium had been atomized and the three of them were now standing in a broken, rocky crater blasted several yards down into the earth and domed by a thick canopy of Zero's vines. Kaname's body throbbed with the strain of trying to restrain and focus his outburst to the extent which he had and it was taking him a moment to get past the blinding white daggers of pain jabbing around in his head.

Zero pressed his face against Kaname's shoulder, hanging onto him tightly as he struggled to maintain this massive output of power. His head rang from the shockwave of Kaname's outburst and the enclosure he'd built around them reverberated with sickening waves of pain as he absorbed the overflow damage which would otherwise have leveled several city blocks. To be honest, he was surprised that his barrier held. He'd wanted to dampen the coming explosion; he'd never expected to be able to contain it. Zero felt Kaname's chest heaving under his hands and realized the pureblood must have done his best to shield him and help localize the worst of the blast. If he hadn't, Zero's vines would have taken a _lot _more damage and the ex-human probably wouldn't still be alive. Dealing with roughly the same destructive power as an atom bomb, it would have been impossible for Zero to fully contain it on his own and equally impossible for Kaname to do the same, but between the two of them they seemed to have averted any serious collateral damage, for the moment.

Nasser gave an ear-splitting, inhuman roar and a wreath of dark fire sprung to life around his body, purple-black flame radiating from his skin and burning away the vines still hungrily tearing into his flesh. The wounds left behind did not heal, but it was obvious that he was still very much a force to be reckoned with. Nasser's powers may have been dulled, but they had had not been stripped, despite the large quantities of anti-vampire poison he had to have flowing in his system from his injuries. That fact alone was somewhat terrifying.

Zero cried out as the pain of the burning vines translated back to him through whatever odd connection it was he shared with them. He felt as if he himself was on fire... and a moment later, he _was_. It started with a horrible, searing burn that seemed to bubble through his blood and then burst upward, pushing its way out. The same dark, heliotrope-tinted fire that Nasser had conjured a moment before raced across his skin and engulfed the hunter's body. It wasn't a real flame, it didn't burn and singe or consume fabric as real fire would, but it hurt a hundred times worse. It wasn't technically burning his flesh, but it _was_ consuming it, devouring him from the inside out with a voracious, vampiric hunger.

Zero screamed in agony. He was still clutching Kaname and he instinctively tried to push himself away as if afraid the flames might spread to his lover. Equally instinctual was the desire to slap at himself or roll to put the flames out, even though he felt certain they could not be quenched in that manner. Both reactions were useless, however, because he couldn't move. The attack wreaking havoc upon him seemed to have sent every muscle in his body into a rigor like spasm, making movement impossible.

Dark flames raced around the entire enclosure, quickly licking up the sides of the crater and setting the walls of vines ablaze. The unholy inferno created a surreal tableau fit for the nether world, made complete by the dark, seething visage of Nasser standing enshrouded but untouched by his own flames. Warping heat waves distorted his shape and his long dark hair stirred around his face as if floated by some unseen wind. His clothes were torn in places and the blood staining them was black in the strange light. His beautiful face was dark with fury and his eyes burned like twin embers. His shape had not actually changed, but somehow there was nothing at all human about him. At this moment he could easily have passed for the prince of darkness.

Zero certainly _felt _like he was in hell as Nasser's power seared through his body and his vines, literally devouring him from all sides. He was trying to fight back, but he couldn't. It was all he could do to not let the protective barrier around them fall as the inner layers were viciously burned away. The charmed circles that the hunters had built around them outside helped him a little, but it wasn't going to be enough for long. The fire had only been burning for a few moments, but Zero already knew that a few moments more was all it was going to take. He could feel it consuming him, burning away all other sensation and leaving him in a screaming agony of torment that would lead swiftly to death.

Kaname had been right. Nasser was incredibly powerful to be able to attack this strongly after having taken as many anti-vampire wounds as he had. Strong as Zero was, he couldn't fight him alone. Nasser was going to kill him.

Fortunately, Zero _wasn't _fighting alone. He suddenly felt a soothing wave surge over him, as if someone had thrown a comforting, icy blanket over the flames, smothering them. Radiating from where his body was still pressed against Kaname's, the sensation pushed back against the fire. A blessed coolness caressed his burning skin and relief began to flow through his veins as a second power reared up to challenge the first for dominance over this little circle of hell.

The dark flames feeding on the ex-human quivered and died out. Leaning against Kaname's back, Zero could feel the strength radiating from his lover as Kaname obviously threw himself into the breach, pitting his will against that of the older pureblood across from them.

Kaname pressed back against Nasser's brutal attack with everything he had. No more games now, no more politics and maneuvering. The train had well and truly left the tracks and they were past the point of no return. If he couldn't win this fight, they were _dead_. With great effort, Kaname grappled Nasser's will with his own, wresting away control over part of the area about them. The flames behind and around the younger pureblood on his and Zero's side of the enclosure hissed and fizzled out.

Nasser's will was thick and cutting. Fighting it was like struggling to make headway against a driving sandstorm of razors fit to strip you to the bone in minutes. Kaname threw himself into that storm, heedless of the pain. At this point, pain was a distraction he could not afford to countenance.

Nasser was bitterly strong, much stronger than even Kaname had suspected. This was not a battle of equals. The younger pureblood was now grimly aware that if Zero hadn't managed to wound him first and Nasser had come at him full strength... there was no way he could have met him head to head. _None._

He sliced and hacked at Nasser's mental barriers and attacks, pouring even more strength into the effort. The flames were still burning Zero's vines on Nasser's side of the enclosure. Kaname was trying hard to put it out, not only because he knew that it was hurting Zero, but also because it was imperative that the boundary held. If this fight spilled back out into the open it would give Nasser the advantage and a lot of people would die. The two purebloods seemed to have hit an impasse however, and Kaname couldn't cut through it.

Nasser chuckled darkly. "I'd worry less about maintaining our little playground here and more about how you think you're going to try to take me, Kaname," he crooned harshly. There was an edge of strain in his voice that slightly tempered his usual, mocking arrogance. Despite how he acted, he knew he was not as in control of this situation as he would like. He was also deeply vexed that things had turned out this way. He hadn't intended to push a showdown with Kaname of this nature, not yet. He'd wanted to have more fun with him first, but they were beyond that now. His survival instincts had been engaged and now he had to kill him.

The trembling air warped sharply and Zero felt Kaname's body tense and jerk against him. The younger pureblood curled forward slightly, one arm tightening around his middle, but he never took his burning gaze or his attention off his adversary. Zero felt his blood run cold as he looked down and saw the dark, twisted spike that had pierced completely through the left side of Kaname's abdomen. The gnarled haft protruded from both the front and back of Kaname's body and red blood seeped quickly out across his suit coat. Zero had no idea where that had even _come _from.

_"Don't worry, I'm not gonna let him out,"_ Zero told Kaname through their mental connection as he focused with grim determination on strengthening the barrier around them, doggedly re-growing the vines behind Nasser as quickly as he burned them. The pain was blinding, but he could take it. Now that the flames weren't working on him directly it wasn't going to be fatal... at least not as quickly. _"I'm good, I've got this. You take care of that bastard." _ Zero knew that trying to fight on all fronts would wear Kaname down too quickly. If he could hold the boundary, then that gave Kaname more strength to focus on Nasser.

A slight nod was Kaname's only response, but Zero could tell the pureblood trusted him to be able to do as he said because his own struggle suddenly became a lot more intense as Kaname refocused more of his energy elsewhere. The air warped again, but this time Kaname checked the incoming projectile in time, snapping it in two a few inches from his chest. Flipping both shards around in midair, he sent them sailing back towards Nasser. They burst into flames before they reached him, but Nasser's eyes flickered darkly.

Stone-faced and as calm as if he were removing a splinter, Kaname pulled the first spike out of his body with one hand. Scarlet blood dripped from it, staining his fingers as he withdrew it like a sword from a sheath. Suddenly, the crimson flow began to change. Under Kaname's unspoken command, it no longer ran as blood should but instead twisted itself like a living entity around the haft of the spike. As Kaname pulled the shaft free, the mutated blood hardened into the point of a wicked, multi-pronged spear.

Faster than a blink, Kaname launched it at Nasser and at the same time, Zero could have sworn something else seemed to detach from Kaname's body like a living shadow flowing out of him, obscured and hidden by his motion, the crazy warping of the seething air and the clashing pureblood auras.

Again, the haft of the projectile burned up upon getting close to Nasser, but Kaname's blood weapon was not so easily destroyed and Nasser was forced to dodge to avoid being impaled by it. He stepped backwards and suddenly Kaname was behind him as well as before him. Kaname's shade duplicate was only solid from about the waist up, darkness flowing in vague strands from the incomplete areas. One shadowy arm wrapped around Nasser's chest from behind while the other punched into his back, trying for his heart.

Nasser was caught off balance, but reacted quickly. He roared in pain as Kaname sliced into him and dark, dragon-like blood wings burst from his back. The scaly, razor edges of the unnatural wings thrust behind him, tearing Kaname's shade to pieces before it could grasp his heart. The wings flared and then dissolved into a burst of flame that intensified the inferno around Nasser.

Kaname's shade burst apart, dissolving and reforming into a dark cloud of bats who dived and clawed at Nasser in a swirling mass and before quickly flowing back into Kaname's body at the same time that Nasser crossed the distance between them.

The fact that Nasser hadn't brought the fight in close until now indicated how bad off he was, but when he moved it was still plenty faster than sight. Nasser slammed into Kaname, his strong fingers curling around the younger vampire's throat in a crushing grip. Kaname grabbed Nasser's throat in return, nails digging into the flesh as their wills and auras slammed into one another. The collision shook the small crater in which they were all standing and propelled the two purebloods up into the air.

Kaname was wrenched out of Zero's grip and the hunter had to let him go. Zero fell to his knees, fists clenching as he strained with all his might to contain the rolling shockwaves of the purebloods' battle. He'd never used his power this strenuously before. It was draining him to the max, but there was simply no way he was going to let himself fail now. It just wasn't an option.

Zero leaned forward, breathing hard and pressing his palms against the ground to get a better connection with the earth. If he could spin more of his vines from the natural substances around them rather than directly from his own body it was easier and he took less damage from their destruction. The air was thick and scorched and it was beginning to become difficult to breathe. Perspiration ran into his eyes and he blinked it away as he craned his neck upwards, gaze seeking the battle above.

The two purebloods whirled and circled in the air, striking and clawing at one another in a fierce, levitating battle that was as much mental as it was physical. They were dangerously close to the canopy of thorns overhead and both were attempting to fling the other onto the sharp, anti-vampire nettles which had grown as long as daggers.

Nasser pressed close to Kaname as they grappled. "You do think you _can _take me, right?" he half purred, half growled. "This wasn't just... an _accident?_" he taunted, knowing it was. "Because you _know_ what happens when you challenge me and you're not up to the fight."

The elder pureblood leaned harshly on the part of Kaname's senses that were still vulnerable to him, head diving down as if he were trying for the younger vampire's throat. Kaname jerked sideways, but Nasser had been feinting and he captured the other pureblood's mouth instead. Grabbing the hair at the base of Kaname's neck he jerked the young man's head back, opening Kaname's mouth enough to push his tongue in while his thigh jammed between Kaname's legs as they circled in the air. Nasser's fangs were extended and it was a brutal, tearing mockery of a kiss, meant to remind Kaname of everything he knew the boy didn't want to remember.

The revulsion and unforgivable thrill of fright that ripped through Kaname unsettled him for only a moment, but it was a moment he couldn't afford. Nasser's fist caught him in the side of the head, crushing his skull and sending blinding pain shooting through him. The damage to Kaname's brain momentarily shorted out his motor functions and he couldn't react as Nasser threw him backwards, directly into the wicked wall of 12-inch thorns behind them with enough force to drive the anti-vampire spikes completely through his body and his heart.

Only the thorns weren't _there_ a second later when Kaname impacted the canopy with a bone-crunching jolt. Instead the pseudo-organic tangle had morphed into a soft, smooth mass of leafy creepers which cushioned his impact, reaching out to catch and support the reeling, bleeding vampire so he didn't drop to the ground.

Nasser hadn't counted on Zero being able to manipulate his creations after their initial formation. If Zero had built more of the original canopy out of the earth rather than his own body, the pureblood would have been right, but although Zero had used the elements around them to an extent and was now pulling on them much more heavily, he had spun a _lot_ of himself into the initial foundation of this enclosure; he hadn't had time to do otherwise. In reality, he'd spun out more of himself then was safe and it was placing a significant strain on his body, but it also gave him much greater control than otherwise.

Zero breathed through his mouth, fingers curled so hard against the dirt they were white and bloodless. He was painfully over-extended, but refused to acknowledge that.

The damage to Kaname's head was not hunter made, nor was it a complete crush wound. As such, it would not kill him, but it was still serious. The pureblood's body sprawled in the embrace of the canopy, cradled by the foliage supporting him. His head slumped limply to the side, dark hair fanned upon the silver-green leaves which were now heavily spattered with the crimson of his blood. His eyes fluttered open and he fought desperately to bring the sickeningly swimming world into focus. He was coming around quickly, but it was going to take a few moments yet for him to begin to heal enough to regain control of his body.

Nasser obviously had no intention of letting him have that time. He hissed in irritation at having his plans thwarted by their obviously biased surroundings and dived for the younger vampire.

Thorn-laced, ropy vines as thin and biting as barbed wire shot out from all angles of the canopy in front of Kaname like a glistening, deadly spider's web, blocking Nasser's path and forcing the other pureblood to snap back in order to keep from dashing himself against them. Unfortunately for Nasser, the same kind of vines had appeared behind him as well and in reversing course he smacked into them, the barbs tearing through clothing and skin.

Nasser's furious gaze snapped down towards the ex-human crouching on the floor below who had by now, very literally, become quite a thorn in his flesh.

Zero's eyes burned and his fangs were bared as he glared up at Nasser from where he knelt. He was trembling and it was impossible to tell if it was with rage, weariness, or both. "Keep your filthy hands off him you freaking son of a bitch!" the hunter snarled. _He's mine, _the murderously protective glare declared, _and I will protect him with every last breath in my body. _

At any other time having this ex-human actually challengehim over _anything_, let alone the right to possess Kaname would have been amusingly ludicrous. Right at this moment, it made Nasser completely livid. His focus should have been on Kaname, but Zero had so utterly pissed him off that the need to deal with that annoying little maggot moved to the top of his priority list.

* * *

Aido stared at buzzing white static dominating the television screen. Somehow, what was left of the popcorn was now all over the bed. He wasn't sure how that had happened, actually, and he didn't particularly care.

_What. The. Hell? _

He could hardly understand what he'd seen before the TV feed had cut out. Kaname and Nasser, the destruction of the courtyard, the _very _familiar shattering effect and then that – he had to admit it – incredibly awesome and completely unexpected display by Zero... had he thought this was going to be _boring? _Chalk one up for the _"couldn't be more wrong" _category!

"Did _everyone_ just see that?" he asked, trying to process it all and wishing his head didn't feel like he was on drugs or something. Which he _was_, actually, but that was beside the point.

"I doubt it." Seiren was on her feet. She turned off the television with a quick, concise movement, but Aido could tell she was agitated and shaken, much more so than was usual for her. "There are hunters on the scene. They know what they're doing. The major networks probably went dark shortly after the windows started exploding. We were watching a private feed. The fact that it's gone down too means they've EMP'ed the entire area." She knew that the practice of knocking out all electronic recording, communication and even transportation devices via targeted EMP pulses was one of the hunters' more recent tricks for containing the secret of vampire existence during incidents like this... except that there had never been an incident quite like _this, _of course. This wasn't some level E who had gone mad on a commuter train or in a shopping plaza; this was a pureblood blowing his top on network television. This was very bad.

Aido pushed the covers off his lap and slid out of bed, grabbing for some of his clothes which had been moved into a dresser. He quickly shed his pajamas and tugged on jeans, shirt and shoes, apparently not caring at this juncture that Seiren was still present.

Seiren watched him quietly, a need for action written in every line of her body. Kaname was probably in as much danger as he'd ever been in and she had no eyes on the situation, no idea what was happening. _She should __**be **__there damn it! _But she also had her duty. Kaname had given her very specific orders and his orders were absolute. She was to stay with Aido and protect him; there was no getting around that. However... if she read the young scientist at all right, she had a feeling that Aido was about to take care of that issue for her. Occasionally, she decided, his impetuousness could be a good thing.

"Well, are you coming?" Aido said over his shoulder as he headed for the doorway. "We have to get over there!" He was worried about how long it was going to take. _Crap... there would probably be traffic and guards and it wasn't at all close by..._

Seiren gave a small nod that would have been amused if she wasn't so incredibly worried right now. "I concur. Leave the transportation to me."

Aido gave her a quizzical look as Seiren suddenly stepped up to him and wrapped her strong, slender arms around his waist. He blinked. "Uhhhhh... not that this isn't nice or anything, but..."

"Shut up," the Praetorian murmured and Aido suddenly felt as if the ground had dropped out from under his feet, some inexorable force sucking him violently inward as the room disappeared into a blur of shapes and shadows.

* * *

Zero's body tensed as he felt the intense pain of Nasser's fire starting to bubble in his veins once more. Without Kaname running interference, he had no protection from that particular attack. The acidic heat seared his senses, locked his muscles and slowed his reflexes. He couldn't react or trigger his vines fast enough as Nasser dropped to the earth behind him. Razor claws raked down his back, slicing his shirt and tearing jagged gouges across his shoulder blades and ribs. It was meant to hurt more than injure, and it did, terribly.

Zero tried to rise and failed. Dark flames burst out across his body again, not quite as intense as they had been last time, but still quite agonizing enough to make his muscles seize, leaving him essentially paralyzed as Nasser knelt swiftly behind him and pulled the boy in against his chest. He tipped Zero's head back against his shoulder, exposing his neck, and ran a bloodied hand down the ex-human's vulnerable throat. A dark spike appeared in Nasser's other hand.

Zero could only just see the wicked barb out of the corner of his eye. It looked a lot like the ones Nasser had used against Kaname earlier and he still didn't know where they come from. If given time to think about it he would probably have suspected that Nasser was creating them from his blood or something of that nature, but Nasser was moving quickly and there was no time for any such thoughts. Almost as soon as it appeared, Nasser jammed the spike ruthlessly into the boy's side and twisted it.

Zero screamed.

Cupping the underside of Zero's chin, Nasser held his already paralyzed body firmly in place as he dug the spike deeper, rotating it cruelly in the bleeding wound. Already on the ragged edge of his pain tolerance, Zero couldn't muffle his cries of agony any more than he could suppress the cold sweat breaking out across his skin beneath the surreal flames, or stop the helpless trembling of his battered body. His own helplessness was terrifying.

"Maybe you can finally be of some use to me," Nasser purred in a poisonous tone. The reason behind his words and why he hadn't stabbed the younger vampire somewhere a little more fatal became painfully clear a heartbeat later as Nasser's hard fingers tilted Zero's chin away from him and the pureblood's hot, open mouth pressed against the exposed junction of the ex-human's neck and shoulder.

Zero felt terror and anger war within him under the familiar, yet terrible sensation of fangs sinking into his flesh. His insides jolted, heart pounding sickeningly as the harsh rush of having his blood drawn pulsed through him. Nasser was going to eat him in order to regain some of the strength he had lost and there wasn't a damn thing Zero could do about it. Nothing had really changed. He was as nauseatingly helpless as he had been years ago; the last time a pureblood vampire had paralyzed him, ravaged his neck and taken away everyone he loved.

Nasser was injured and in a hurry, he wasn't wasting time guarding much and Zero could almost his _feel _his malevolent intentions. He could feel as clear as any verbal threat that Nasser intended to _take care_ of Kaname as soon as this little nuisance was out of his way. That brought Zero's anger right to its limit, smothering the nauseating thrills of fear. His senses winked dangerously, but hatred and fury seethed in his chest, eclipsing everything, even the pain. He would not lose Kaname as he'd lost his family. He would not fail him as he'd failed them. Fury gave him strength.

Things _had_ changed. He had changed. He was smarter now and twice as stubborn. He couldn't free himself, he couldn't save himself, he knew that, but he'd sure as hell continue clogging Nasser's wheels whether he lived or died. Zero refused to give into terror and didn't burn out his strength fighting an impossible battle against Nasser's hold on him. Instead he let his energy flow outward into the vines around them so that even if he died, they would remain for a while - hopefully long enough to give Kaname a chance. He knew Kaname would lose it if their bond broke, but if this was their end it would sure as _hell _be Nasser's too. Zero would do what he could to make sure that Kaname could take this bastard down with them. He pushed himself out into his creations, his senses suddenly weirdly aware of things beyond his body - the taste of earth, the feel of stone, the sensation of a warm breeze.

The entire attack had only taken moments. Perhaps thinking he had more time, or simply too single-minded in his anger and his need to feed, Nasser didn't notice the incoming threat until it was almost too late. A concussive wave of force like an invisible fist slammed the pureblood backwards, away from Zero. It would have thrown him into the wall if Nasser hadn't managed to check himself just in time and end up skidding to a halt in an undignified heap on the ground instead.

Kaname had recovered.

He landed beside Zero even as Nasser went flying, catching the ex-human before he could fall and smothering the flames licking at him with a touch. Zero slumped limply in his arms, free now, but too weakened to stay conscious. Nasser had only gotten a few swallows and the spike still jammed in Zero's side was keeping the bleeding relatively contained for the moment. It wasn't blood loss that was taking him under so much as the fact that his body simply couldn't handle the overall strain it was being placed under.

Zero was fighting it, he was trying desperately to push back at the darkness and not leave Kaname alone here but he'd spent himself too hard and Nasser had hurt him too badly. His eyes slid shut and his body slackened in his lover's grip.

For a moment, Kaname's heart all but stopped. He somehow managed not to make a display of his fear and to keep half his attention on Nasser as he held Zero protectively to his chest and probed him with his senses. He was reassured to feel that the hunter was still alive and not actually as bad off as he had feared, all things considered.

Nasser was getting back to his feet and Kaname carefully laid Zero down on the ground, rising to face him. Kaname was surprised that the barrier around them still held even though Zero was unconscious. His lover must have poured a lot of himself into the vines before he passed out. Even in this state, Zero was fighting for him. Kaname could not let him down. He could not fail now. There was too much at stake.

Both purebloods had tasted one another's power and they were more wary now. They eyed one another like cunning tigers locked in too small a cage, looking for the best opening through which to try their next pounce.

Icy hatred and disgust ruled the younger pureblood's bloodied and disheveled features. He knew better than to let his concern for Zero cloud his ability to fight. He knew better than to show the terror that made his heart pound or his anguished guilt over the fact that Zero had been hurt because of his mistakes and lack of strength. Those were distractions he could not afford. Nasser played and fed upon his feelings and weaknesses. In order to make sure Zero stayed safe, he needed to divorce his emotions from this fight as much as possible and fight smart.

"You think you can protect him? You can't even protect yourself. You're _weak _Kaname. _Look_ at me." Nasser held his arms out to the side in a goading manner. He was breathing hard, but his voice was all arrogance. "Injured like this, and you still can't beat me?" He shook his head. He was obviously attempting to provoke his opponent and Kaname wished it wasn't working quite so well. "Of course, I could have told you that... oh _wait... _I **did.**" Nasser's gaze was dark as he deliberately wiped Zero's blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. "I warned you about challenging me. Now, I will have to kill you. But before I do I will take everything you hold dear, starting with that brat." He pointed meaningfully at Zero's sprawled form. "He's really quite a tasty morsel for a 'D."

Kaname shifted smoothly in front of the unconscious boy, making it clear that Nasser was going to do that, quite literally, over his dead body. "No," Kaname hissed coldly, his fangs flashing and his eyes burning. His hands had changed, fingers darkening into lengthened claws. "_You _are not taking _anything _more from me, ever again!"

A slight shifting of air was the only warning before the two were suddenly in motion again, fists, claws and powers clashing in a sizzling dazzle of energy and motion. There was at the same time something both graceful and bestial about their battle. They moved with the fluidity of aerobatic performers gliding and twirling in a world where gravity held no meaning and yet around the bursts of power and mental counter-attacks, they grappled, clawed and bit at one another like panthers in a cage-match.

Nasser was up to his old tricks of course. He groped and taunted Kaname every chance he got, but Kaname refused to fall for that a second time. Something in the younger pureblood's heart had found its footing and grim determination lent a deadly calm to his motions. Nothing existed for Kaname outside this moment, this fight, and this opponent. Nothing in the world mattered now except victory. Victory at any cost.

* * *

Aido reeled as the world coalesced around him only to dissolve again time after time. It was a dizzying blur of half-formed, stop-motion images. A country road shrouded in the shrill of insects and the growl of car engines. The stained, tar-paper roof of a gas station and the roar of an industrial air conditioning unit. A parking lot. Another roof, this one covered in gravel. Trees. A park. A startled child, a barking dog. The road again, the blare of a truck horn...

When a long, grassy field appeared and actually stayed under his feet instead of dissolving immediately, Aido dropped to his knees and promptly threw up. That would have been awkward if Seiren had still been in front of him, but fortunately she seemed to have expected that kind of reaction and was now a few feet away. She was kneeling too, her face grey and lined with strain.

Aido wobbled, supporting himself on hands and knees and just managing not to soil himself as he retched onto the long, unkempt grass. "Y-you're a-a teleporter!" he half wheezed, half accused once he had tenuous control of his stomach again. He obviously hadn't known that, although it explained a lot about her uncanny ability to just show up places you could swear she hadn't been a moment before. "Why the heck didn't you ever say anything? We all thought..."

Seiren pushed back to her feet, her fists curled in determination. "That I didn't have a power, I know," she said simply. "It is always better if your enemy underestimates you and cannot plan for a counter attack." Her life was to be unseen, to live in the shadows and count on the element of surprise. It had been her choice to hide her ability from everyone but Kaname and use it in secret or only at need. She knew that other nobles assumed she was of a lower or common class as a result, but that didn't matter. Doing her job was what mattered. Besides, her ability wasmuch more limited than that of someone like Aido. Initially, she'd not been able to manage more than just going from one room to another without feeling like she'd pass out. That was not the kind of thing you told anyone about.

It was Kaname who had helped her train her skills and endurance until it became more useful. Her mild teleportation held some elements in common with his much more powerful ability to travel via shade forms and he'd taught her how to keep her mind and her energy protected when she jumped so it didn't dissipate into the ether and drain her so quickly. He'd started working with her when they were still fairly young. She knew he had done it because he wanted her to eventually be able to jump in and out of the Ichijo manor so she could come to him there without old man Ichijo's knowing. It was only natural that she was more useful to him if she was stronger and better skilled, but he had never disdained her for her weakness and there had been a gentleness in his tutoring that merely served to further solidify her absolute devotion to him.

"Geez!" Aido gasped, wiping his mouth shakily on his sleeve. "First Kiryu goes all super-vamp and now you turn up with this... any _other _little surprises I should know about?"

"I would not make a comparison," she said simply, being honest, not modest. "What he did was very... surprising." She _had_ actually known about Zero's power, she had seen Kaname training him in the early days and was aware of the intense sparring matches in which they liked to participate. Still, she'd had no idea that his strength was anywhere near the level he'd just demonstrated.

"My abilities are far more ordinary." She pushed a strand of hair behind one ear and Aido realized her skin was damp with perspiration. "I can only do short distances and more than a couple times in a row takes a lot out of me. Cross country like this is..." she shrugged, drawing a deep, steadying breath. "Only for emergencies."

Aido read between the lines and realized that she meant doing this was grueling and draining her steeply. Probably why she'd needed to take a little break... or else perhaps she'd guessed that Aido had needed to throw up and didn't want him doing it on her mid-jump. It was, however, significantly faster than even running at vampire speed would have been, and that was what mattered right now.

A moment later her arms were back around him and they were off again.

* * *

The muscles and tendons in Nasser's right arm re-attached with great difficulty. Kaname had just about lopped both his arms off in the last attack. Nasser's hunter injuries were slowing him down, but he was still compensating fairly swiftly. The uncomfortable truth was, however, that Kaname was much too dangerous an opponent in his current state. He needed to get an advantage, and soon. He wished they weren't trapped in such a small space, it would be better if they had the whole city to play across. His opponent had a weak spot for humans. Knock down a few skyscrapers, level a pre-school or two and perhaps he could have distracted Kaname a bit with all the collateral damage.

At least with the hunter out, their surroundings were a little more equally dangerous to both vampires, small mercy though that was. Hovering up near the top of the damnable canopy, Nasser broke off half a dozen of the long, wicked thorns growing there and launched them at Kaname.

Kaname dogged the volley easily, but as Nasser sent another wave of projectiles, alarm tugged at his mind. Nasser wasn't a stupid enemy. He was not going to keep trying something he already knew wasn't effective. Realizing he was being distracted, Kaname only just had time to realize that while Nasser feigned attacking him from the front, the other pureblood had used his mental power to sheer off an entire wall of the deadly thorns behind the pureblood.

The thorns were already in motion and Kaname's stomach dropped into his toes... because they weren't heading for _him. _They were heading like deadly rain of arrows towards where Zero's still, unresponsive body lay on debris strewn earth below.

Kaname knew what Nasser was doing. The older pureblood had found both his strength and his weakness. It was obvious Kaname wanted to protect Zero. Now he would have to decide just how much he was willing to sacrifice to do so. This was a trap of some kind and the only way to avoid it would be to let Zero die.

Naturally, that wasn't an option.

Kaname blasted a destructive, sheeting wind of razors at the missiles, shredding most of them instantly. Kaname could only hope this wasn't hurting Zero too much, since the thorns were from his vines, but he had no choice. Unfortunately, Nasser had anticipated Kaname's counter move and Kaname found that the elder pureblood simply shifted his focus, whipping about all the broken bits of thorn with bullet-like velocity and turning them into weapons even more deadly than before. At the same time, Kaname caught another flicker motion, a second volley of thorns being brought in for an attack, but these spikes did not fall in an a wave, instead they scattered, dancing, avoiding him, coming in from all angles under the guidance of Nasser's quick mind.

Kaname landed so he was standing protectively over Zero, his mind smoothly racing to counter the threat, striking away the incoming projectiles of all sizes with prodigious speed. He understood Nasser's game now. He was keeping Kaname's focus distracted, forcing the pureblood to track and calculate thousands variables every instant so he wouldn't have time to figure out what the next gambit would be.

He prodded Zero through their mental connection, trying to get the boy to stir. He got the vague impression that Zero was there right under the surface, but not yet able to regain consciousness. He would probably come to soon... but only if Kaname could make sure he stayed alive long enough. Kaname would not admit to himself that there was any doubt about his ability to do that, but countering this hurricane of tiny, swirling weapons was draining. He knew he couldn't keep it up indefinitely, so he shifted tactics.

With one raw burst of power, Kaname attempted to completely vaporize everything in the immediate area. It was tricky because he had to contain the destruction enough so that it didn't touch Zero or the vines of the enclosure around them and only destroyed the attacking cloud Nasser was creating. Kaname couldn't quite catch everything, but he caught enough.

Nasser frowned, wincing at the force of Kaname's blast. He hadn't expected the boy to be able to do that. Kaname was strong and annoyingly skilled. However... Nasser smelt blood in the air and knew that his efforts had not been totally wasted.

Kaname's breathing seemed loud in his own ears in the sudden, momentary stillness. Pain radiated hot and bright through his body. He'd eliminated the threat, but at a cost. Several of the larger thorns had made it through and lay scattered about his feet. One had cut a nasty gash along his side, and the other had embedded itself deep in his shoulder. _Shit. _

Kaname felt the hunter poison burn into his veins, weakness creeping into his limbs. He quickly grabbed the thorn and pulled it out of his shoulder, but the damage was already done. The wound did not mend.

Nasser pounced. Kaname dodged and slashed, but he could feel his motions slowing, his ability draining away from him under the interference of the hunter-made injuries. He couldn't imagine how Nasser could have taken as many poisoned wounds as he already had and still keep going like this. The true differences in their ages and levels of power were showing and Kaname felt sickeningly like some kind of child compared to his opponent. For someone who was accustomed to being the strongest person in any situation he entered, even amongst his own kind, it was not a pleasant sensation.

It was hardly a surprise, however. Kaname had figured out he was physically outmatched the moment the fight started, yet victory did not always go to the strongest. He had to be smart. If he was going to survive, he had to out-scheme his opponent, difficult task though that was. The young pureblood had already started to come up with a desperate, frightening plan... he just didn't like it much. Unfortunately, it looked like he wasn't going to have any other options.

Nasser was well aware that he was in the grimmest struggle for his life he'd ever faced and he did not let up on Kaname for a moment. Exhaustion and pain was rippling through him in distracting waves, but he forced himself to make use of his superior resilience and endurance in order to continue pounding on Kaname's defenses. He peppered his opponent in a whirlwind of attack, focusing on Zero so that Kaname was tied down in place and unable to physically stray too far without putting the unconscious ex-human at risk.

Kaname's responses were slowing as the hunter poison did its job. Nasser pressed hard and ruthless, giving no quarter - he could not afford to. He'd severely underestimated Kaname's strength. This _child _who had been alive a mere breath of time and barely fed from any of his own kind was forcing Nasser to fear for his very life. It was unthinkable. It was unforgivable. It was exhilarating.

Maybe this was what Nasser had wanted, after all. A challenge. Something new. Something that took the certainty out of life again and made him feel alive. Could you really feel alive after so long, if the shadow of death never crossed your path? Maybe it was what he'd wanted, but he also wanted to win. Challenge was no good if you didn't overcome it. He couldn't possibly let this _brat _beat him! Survival instinct was in full gear and Nasser bore down hard on his enemy despite his own failing health.

Kaname reeled as one of Nasser's attacks managed to slip through, ripping through his chest and damaging his lungs. Breathing suddenly became hard, blood filling his lungs. He fought to compensate, gagging on blood in the back of his throat. Nasser slammed into him and they went down.

Trapped on his back, Kaname struggled and punched at Nasser almost automatically, willing himself to move as he fought to seal up the injuries. His body wasn't healing naturally, but Kaname was finding that he could partially force it to mend the most important bits if he bent his will upon it hard enough. That was probably what Nasser had been doing all this time, Kaname had simply never realized it was possible before. Desperation was a quick teacher. The poison was slowing him, but it hadn't completely stripped his abilities even though he'd gotten a fairly sizable dose. In the past it would have, but fortunately for Kaname his constant sparring with Zero and frequent exposure to low doses of the hunter's particular brand of poison over the years had given him a higher resistance to it.

Nasser punched a knee into his gut and Kaname struggled to keep the world in focus. One hand gripped Nasser's torn collar tightly while the other tried to claw him. Nasser knocked his hand to the ground, and Kaname felt something sharp under his fingers.

"It's... too bad... Kaname," Nasser panted, grinding down hard against the body beneath him in an attempt to keep his opponent pinned. "I didn't want it to end like this." There was some actual regret in the words. "You have... no idea... what you might have become." When they first met, Nasser had fancied he'd seen himself in Kaname. He'd found someone as strong and clever as he had been when he was young. But he'd been wrong, the boy was _much_ stronger. If Kaname had lived as long as he, and fed as well as he had, he would be a _true_ terror. He could hold the world in his hand uncontested.

Nasser's ragged breath brushed Kaname's cheek and neck. "You could have been a _god._"

Kaname's dark smile was mirthless as he struggled to breathe around the much too slowly mending gashes in his lungs. His fingers traced the sharp edges of the object his hand had come upon. Realizing what it was, he closed his fist around it. The rough edges dug into his fingers, making them burn. He clenched it tighter. "No," he returned with a grimly knowing look in his eyes. "People like you and I, Nasser, we're only fit to be devils."

Nasser felt unexpected pain spike through him as Kaname drove something sharp and biting up into the elder pureblood's gut. It was one of the broken, dagger like thorns which Nasser had used in his earlier attack. Kaname dragged the improvised blade swiftly upwards as if gutting a fish. Nasser caught the boy's wrist only just in time, managing to stop him before Kaname got to his heart. Wresting Kaname's hand back over his head and wrenching the weapon from him with the force of the movement, Nasser spun the thick thorn around and drove it into the center of Kaname's palm. The hard thrust drove it through his hand and deep into the earth, pinning the younger vampire's arm by his head. Kaname didn't cry out, or even change his cold, deadly expression, but you could see the pain in his eyes.

Holding Kaname's wrist down with one hand, Nasser's other clawed hand pressed dangerously against his chest. A fanged mouth went for Kaname's throat, but Kaname countered with a harsh head-butt to Nasser's face, keeping the bite from connecting. Then Kaname did something that completely caught his opponent by surprise. The younger pureblood grabbed Nasser's chin with his free hand, leaned his head up and kissed Nasser, hard.

* * *

Aido's feet shifted in uneasy alarm on the thin strip of stone as he realized they had materialized on a decorative window ledge some twenty or thirty stories above the ground. The ledge acted as a ornamental sill for a row of windows which ringed the upper floors of a large, dignified looking building. Far below them, Aido could see a familiar scene of destruction spread out across what had once been a stately courtyard. It was like the last images they'd seen on the television minutes before, only the damage was even worse when viewed in person.

There was an odd calm hanging upon the uneasy scene. The ground shook and rumbled occasionally. The air around the tangled mass of vines in the center of the courtyard buzzed with row after row of hunter charms and seals. A mismatched chorus of car alarms bleated plaintively from a good distance away, but there was very little sound from nearer at hand other than a low murmur of voices. It seemed unnaturally quite for such devastation.

Aido's shoes slipped on the narrow ledge. The ground appeared to be impossibly far away all of a sudden. He started to yelp, but Seiren pushed him back against the wall, her hand clamping firmly over his mouth before he could make a sound. She surveyed the situation below them with a quick, practiced eye. Her body was positioned so it shielded Aido from the courtyard in case they were spotted or in case this was some kind of trap. She was responsible for his safety and she took that as seriously as she took everything about her job.

Aido had the sense not to struggle with her, or maybe he was still dizzy from their trip out here, but she could feel his hand moving against her palm as if he were trying to speak. Seiren turned back to him and made a firm gesture for silence before removing her hand from his mouth.

"Quiet, we do not want the hunters to ascertain our presence," she warned in a low whisper, her breath brushing against the blonde's ear. An impressive number of hunters and tamed 'D's had this entire block already cordoned off. Only her ability to _hop_ she and Aido in here had enabled them to get through without being spotted or having to fight.

"We have to do something!" Aido hissed back, not obeying her wish for silence, but at least keeping his voice pitched to a barely audible whisper.

Seiren fixed him with a level stare and Aido felt his panicky agitation settle down into something more akin to reason as he saw that those slate eyes held just as much urgency as his own, although fortified with far more restraint. "_What_, exactly, Aido-san?" the praetorian returned quietly. "What exactly do you think we can do against a pureblood vampire other than become more hindrances that Kaname-sama will have to either protect or sacrifice?"

Aido didn't have an answer for that. He knew how useless it was for them as lower class vampires to think of baring their fangs at a pureblood. Seiren was right, they would just get in Kaname's way, yet doing _nothing _seemed appalling. "But Zero..."

"Kiriyu is different from us," Seiren cut him off. She hadn't understood that herself until today, but after what they had seen, it was obvious. "He does not appear to have the same compulsion to obey. We can only hope that he is able to be of help." Seiren knew that if he wasn't, then Kaname was probably lost because he had his largest vulnerability in there with him. She knew he would protect Zero to the determent of all else, even himself. Normally, this fact was part of what made Seiren unhappy with the arrangement of having Zero act as Kaname's bodyguard. But after this amazing display of power today... she found herself being more hopeful then pessimistic. Kiriyu was full of surprises.

"He will," Aido said with quiet certainty. "He will protect Kaname-sama if he can." _And if he can't, he'll die trying. _Aido knew that for a fact, and it made his chest burn for both parties involved. _Please be okay. _

He glanced back down towards the shattered, vine tangled courtyard, but that was a mistake because it reminded him of where they were standing and the world whirled giddily about him. Aido was not normally afraid of heights and he wasn't _afraid _of them now either, but his center of balance was off because of his illness and looking down from this high, narrow vantage point made his head spin with vertigo, scrambling his ability to tell where exactly he was in space. He wavered dizzily, pressing himself back hard against the wall behind him as his face paled.

Seiren's strong, slender forearm snapped across his chest, pinning him to the wall and keeping him safely in place. "You are not well," she said softly. "I should not have brought you here." Kaname had charged her with Aido's safety, that was her overriding mission right now; no matter how worried she was about her master she could not let herself fail in her duties.

Aido closed his eyes, breathing quickly through his mouth until the vertigo eased. He scowled as he carefully blinked his eyes open again, pretending that he wasn't very glad for the reassuring contact of Seiren's body anchoring him in space and keeping him from feeling like he might free-fall at any moment. "I'm _fine,_" he growled. "And if I'm not, what does it matter?" he added, seeing her obvious skepticism. "I don't care. There has to be _something _we can do!"

"Maybe there is, maybe there isn't," Seiren said slowly, her mind obviously already racing through many different thoughts and options. "But rushing in like fools will only hinder. You're supposed to be some kind of genius, right? Surely you must understand the concept of thinking before you act."

That was debatable, but Aido nodded anyway. "Right, right... okay, we need to be smart about this." He swallowed, trying to think around the burning lump of his alarm and fear for Kaname... and Zero. He tried to breathe deeply, glancing in incomprehension at the destruction around them. He felt broken glass grind against the concrete ledge under his feet as he shifted. Breathing carefully, he forced himself to look down again, managing to get through the vertigo a little better this time.

The courtyard was full of people. At first glance they all appeared to be hunters, but after a moment Aido noticed a familiar flash of auburn hair. Kain was down there, along with Ruka, Takuma and Shiki. The hunters had them ringed with armed guards, a sight which made Aido feel distinctly uneasy. There was no sign of anyone else who had been at the press conference earlier. The other vampire and human spectators must already have been evacuated or temporarily sedated.

"More hunters are arriving," Seiren noted quietly, seeing a new wave of over a dozen armed men and women entering the courtyard at a run. "They already have this whole area under a blackout bubble. They'll try to contain this, to keep it from leaking even if that means mass memory wipes, but it won't be easy. They are not going to be pleased."

Aido finally started to understand that Seiren was focusing on the hunters because they were a possible threat to Kaname that she had some chance of helping with, unlike Nasser who was outside her league. It was an unpleasant shock when the full meaning of her words sunk in and he realized _why _she was concerned about the hunter presence and whether they were happy or not. _Oh shit... Kaname's going to be in trouble with them now, isn't he?_

Aido shook his head. "This is really bad. We have to figure out what happened. Kaname-sama wouldn't just attack like this without a very good reason," he opined thoughtfully. "Not with all these people around. Ardon-sama obviously said something to him, but I mean... just words... it couldn't have made him lose it this badly."

Seiren's eyes were curiously dark. "Do not be so certain," she said quietly. "You don't know Ardon-sama."

Aido caught the undercurrent in her tone. "You do?"

The dark blankness was still there in her slate grey eyes. She would never have spoken of any of this if she did not think it was relevant to the situation at hand and even so, she would only say so much. "Not personally, no. Nor do I wish to. But he and Kaname-sama have had unpleasant dealings in the past. I failed to protect Kaname-sama from him and I fear that he paid for my incompetence, even though he survived. My own life would have been small recompense, but he refused to take it. You know the kind of person Kaname-sama is." Her words were calm and measured, but Aido could tell that the memory of failure still burned her.

The blonde gave a small nod. Yes, he knew the kind of person Kaname-sama was - the kind who didn't see others as objects to be used, discarded and punished when they did not serve him properly. The kind you wanted to follow, not because he was a pureblood, but because he was _Kaname. _Aido's interest was captured by the information that the two purebloods had history. He had not known before. "When was that?" he inquired.

"After the death of Kaname-sama's parents and before the formation of the Night Class," Seiren answered simply.

Aido held back a surge of rage. So, in other words, she and Kaname had both been _children. _An old, powerful pureblood picking on a kid... lovely man, this Nasser.

"My point is that for a time, Ardon-sama seemed very interested in obtaining Kaname-sama as a protégé, against his wishes. My intelligence has never been able to penetrate very far into Ardon-sama's dealings, but what I have gleaned indicates that he has continued to follow our lord's career from afar all these years. We cannot afford to underestimate what he may know or what he may have done that could make him a threat to Kuran-sama."

Something clicked in Aido's head and it made him feel suddenly ill in a way that had nothing to do with his physical condition. "Something like Yuki's death, maybe?" he said quietly.

Seiren frowned, blinking at him as if simultaneously surprised and struck by his sudden leap of logic - surprised by his uncanny ability to hit upon a chord of truth regarding matters he should have known nothing about and struck by the fact that it made a lot of sense. Seiren was aware of Kaname's wager with Nasser and the information the other pureblood claimed to have, but she hadn't thought to find relevance between that and this situation - until now.

"Think about it," Aido said softly. He could see in Seiren's eyes that she had already latched onto the same trail and was following it through even as he spoke. "A frontal attack in this setting is not rational; there are a hundred better ways for Kaname-sama to have come after Ardon-sama if he wanted a confrontation." Aido knew that for a fact. He was aware of the chess game Kaname had played and won against Shizuka Hio some years back. He was sure Seiren probably was as well. If Kaname wanted to kill someone, he wouldn't intentionally go about it in such a sloppy way.

"Ardon-sama provoked him, but how? What can you think of that could make him react this strongly when it puts him in such a bad situation? I can only think of two things that would make Kaname-sama behave irrationally: Zero Kiriyu and Yuki Cross. Zero was here, with Kaname, and mere threats wouldn't have set him off, so..."

"So it has to have been about the Cross girl," Seiren nodded. "That makes sense. Ardon-sama did claim to have information about her death."

"He did?" Aido's blue eyes were sharp, almost hard as he continued to put pieces together in his mind. He did not like the way they fit. "I think he killed her," he whispered. He couldn't be sure of course, but he was suddenly thinking about the data from Naija which he had been studying not long ago. If her information had been accurate and if he could confirm the theories he had been starting to form earlier... then he might just know _why_ Yuki had been killed as she had and it might all finally make a completely dreadful and despicable kind of sense. That was all very speculative though and he wasn't about to elucidate any further at the moment.

Seiren seemed less tossed by Aido's leaping twists of logic this time, or at least she did not feel that now was the time to request an explanation. It was a definite possibility, even if she didn't see how Nasser would have benefited from such an action. It _would _certainly explain Kaname's loss of control. "Perhaps," was all she said. "But if so, that does not help us much at the moment. That is not a reason that the hunters will accept, nor is it one that Kaname is likely to explain to them."

They both glanced down towards the shattered courtyard again, squinting as yet another glowing circle of hunter charms sprang to life in an ever-widening circle around the tangled mass of vines in the center of the area. The knot of vines seemed to pulse as if it were a living organ - a giant heart, beating with the reverberating thrum of whatever was happening inside. Aido and Seiren both knew that there was no use worrying about what happened afterwards if there _was_ no afterwards, if Kaname and Zero didn't survive whatever was happening in there right now, but those were thoughts that neither of them would voice.

* * *

Kaname kissed Nasser with an open mouth, their aroused fangs brushing and clacking against one another. He tasted a lingering hint of Zero's blood on Nasser's tongue and it was all he could do to not let fury cloud his brain. Nasser obviously hadn't expected _him _to initiate something like that and the surprise bought Kaname a few precious moments to recoup.

Nasser felt Kaname's will coming up between them again, holding him off, not letting him get his mouth down to Kaname's neck or allowing his fingers to puncture into the other pureblood's chest. Obviously, Kaname's intention was to distract him, which he had, but the damage was already done so Nasser allowed the kiss to linger for several long, intense moments, chasing Kaname's head down when the other pureblood tried to pull away. Kaname was playing with fire if he thought he could use Nasser's own tricks against him, and Nasser was only too happy to burn him for his trouble.

"Is that what you want, Kaname?" he growled, mauling the pureblood's lower lip slowly as their wills pressed back and forth against one another, slipping and sliding urgently. Both of them were significantly weakened now. Both of them were vulnerable. There was something raw and exciting about the struggle, especially since Nasser figured he had the trump card in this match. He still had access to Kaname's mind.

"You know it's far too late now, for me to just punish you and let you go... but if you're _asking _me for something..." the elder pureblood's bloody smile was sardonic.

With a slippery yet ruthless thrust, he pushed into Kaname's mind, a grim imitation of the other kind of violation he had enacted upon the younger vampire in the past. Kaname clawed at him fiercely, trying to push him out, but Nasser reached for those old memories which they shared, dragging them to the fore, sparking them to life and forcing Kaname to re-live them. He keyed the nerve centers in Kaname's mind, making the sensations in those memories explode through him as if they were real, as if they were happening right now.

Kaname knew what Nasser was doing, he knew it wasn'treal, but it _felt _so damn real his injured body shook. Panic, pain and shame clawed at his consciousness.

The old trauma threw Kaname, unsettling his mental footing enough to allow Nasser to penetrate deeper, tearing him from the inside out. Reality fragmented sickeningly. He was on his back on the ground amidst the cratered ruins of the podium, but he was also on the bed back at Ichijo's house... and the one in Nasser's house... suddenly the agony in his mind was joined by a very real flare of pain from his body as Nasser's hand slipped out of Kaname's control plunged into his chest, cruel, talon-like fingers hooking around his heart.

Kaname grabbed Nasser's forearm in a vice-grip with his good hand, preventing him from yanking the heart right out of his chest. Injured as he was, with hunter poison flowing through his veins, Kaname knew that would end him.

Kaname was in agony, but Nasser was weakened too. He had far more poison in him than the younger vampire and despite his obviously incredible strength; he couldn't physically break free of Kaname's death grip on his arm. The crushing force was making Nasser's fingers numb and clumsy. He twisted his hand sharply, nails cruelly tearing inside Kaname's chest.

The pain was staggering and although he didn't scream, Kaname's grip slipped slightly as the blinding agony intensified. Nasser yanked his arm back, out of the younger vampire's body. Kaname twisted his wrist harshly at the last moment, the intense strength of the movement suggesting that his earlier slip might have been a feint. Nasser pulled his arm free, but came away with only a small part of Kaname's heart.

Kaname's blood was everywhere. The crimson liquid covered Nasser's clothes and splashed his face. The world was red and rich and sticky. It brought forth the beast in Nasser's dark eyes. Injured as he was, it could hardly fail to do so.

Kaname's torn heart fluttered and contracted wildly, screaming pain and panic through him as his body tried to deal with the damage, tried to seal itself off enough to survive. Nasser hadn't gotten enough of it to kill him outright, but the damage was severe. He couldn't stop his opponent from plunging his hand back into his chest and trying to finish the job, but he grabbed Nasser's arm again and this time, nothing the older vampire did could physically break Kaname's iron grip.

Nasser's eyes had gone wild, his face feral. His entire mouthful of fangs were fully unsheathed in a way that only purebloods could achieve, every tooth transformed to a glistening dagger point. He drove for Kaname's neck. Kaname wrenched his other arm free from where it was pinned, ruthlessly ripping his hand up along the poisoned spike and allowing it to tear completely through his palm in order to get free. It hurt like hell, but not nearly as much as it would if Nasser got his fangs in him. Kaname pushed through the pain and forced his damaged fingers to work, grabbing Nasser's throat and holding his opponent at arm's length.

Nasser snarled and growled, but although Kaname could not seem to escape from beneath him, neither could Nasser jar free of his adversary's restraining grip. They struggled and strained against one another, at a stalemate. Stymied physically, Nasser predictably leaned on Kaname's mind again, seeking to break him from the inside.

He pounded the ugly memories in the younger vampire's head, using them to ruthlessly violate Kaname all over again.

Kaname grit his teeth, his body squirming under the phantom assault. In the fractured world of the mind it was like being trapped in his nightmares. It resembled a past reality, but it was being shaped by Nasser's ruthless will in the present. It was both horrible and surreal.

_There was the sobbing boy on the bed again, the one that had haunted his dreams for years... _

He recoiled instinctually and he felt Nasser pressing closer, the fist in his chest twisting dangerously. Kaname stopped. He forced himself not to retreat, not to run from the horror. Those were the reactions of a hurt, frightened child and that was not who he was. Not anymore. He would run no longer. The hurts of the past only controlled him if he _let_ them control him.

Kaname faced the ghostly specter head on. He forced the painful scene into focus in his mind. The agony and the horror were all there, intense and familiar like every other time he had lived this nightmare even before he had realized that it was more than just a bad dream. Yet one thing... one thing was subtly different. He didn't utterly hate the boy on the bed anymore. Something in him, something that felt vaguely like a lingering echo of Zero's touch in his mind, allowed him to forgive the crying child for being weak and to instead hate the dark figure over him.

Nasser ground the phantom scene into him harshly and Kaname accepted it. He let Nasser make it real enough to taste, touch and feel. He accepted the truth that could not be changed. The figure before him was not some nameless stranger, not some random creation of his nightmares. It hadn't happened to someone else. It had happened to him. _He _was the boy on the bed. As he consciously accepted that and stopped trying to distance himself from it, his perspective shifted. The fragmented parts of his psyche that had long tried to hide from one another in his unconscious effort to obscure the truth seemed to somehow draw back together, gaining an unexpected strength from their newfound wholeness. He wasn't looking _at_ the scene anymore, he was inside it. He was part of it. He embraced it. He let himself feel the hurt and the shame and even the horrible pleasure of it throbbing through him.

You feared the unknown. You feared the possibility that the shadow on the wall might be a monster. But once you knew it _was_, once you lived the nightmare, it was no longer unknown, was it? Kaname had already gone through this hell and survived, where was the terror in it now? Nasser had _already_ done all this to him. Nasser had hurt and used him, had even taken someone he loved dearly away from him. What was there left to fear?

_Kaname felt himself scrubbed back and forth against the illusionary bed, his body on fire from conflicting sensations. Nasser was over him, holding his suddenly smaller, younger body down and thrusting into him ruthlessly. _

Kaname didn't fight the vision. Didn't waste his strength battling Nasser's will and desire to dominate him. Instead he added to the scene. He pushed his own memories into it, fueling it, letting it become more and more concrete in the mental space that the two enemies were cohabitating.

_Nasser grabbed Kaname's knees, pushing them back; rocking his hips up higher... _but it was Kaname who had fed that memory in. He certainly had enough of them. The more Kaname added to the scene, the more intense the sensations became and yet at the same time, the more control he gained over the pseudo environment.

This was not a true memory, nor was it reality - if it resembled anything, it most resembled a vivid, shared dream. Like any dream, Kaname found that if you were aware you were asleep... you could start to impact what happened.

_The chains around Kaname's wrists dissolved when he tugged on them. His arms slid down to curl around Nasser's back as if in embrace. He'd done this once, and although that time had nearly destroyed him, it now enabled him to make it real in this shadow world. _

_He physically felt Nasser's body against him and inside him - hard, hot and plundering. The smooth, hated mouth was warm and moist as sucked and nipped at his chest. Nasser growled and shuddered, and Kaname knew that he could feel it too. _

Nasser could feel it too.

_Inside the fractured dream world, the eyes of the illusionary young Kaname hardened with a predatory glint. He pushed against Nasser, growling seductively; running his nails down the older vampire's back and making him shudder again. The other pureblood held Kaname down hard, grabbing his knees and spreading them wide, pushing them back to his chest, driving pleasure and pain into him with brutal and yet almost mindless need. _

In actuality, Nasser had never been _quite_ this way with Kaname in the past. He'd been brutal and even wild, but he had always been very much in control. Now, that control was absent. Nasser was currently heavily vamped out and that carried through into this illusion. He was behaving as a creature of instinct and desire, giving rein to that base nature at his core which drove him, but which he usually tempered with calculating reason.

Nasser needed to possess, to claim, to destroy... but he seemed to be momentarily forgetting where they truly were. Both purebloods were equally lost in this false reality now. Nasser had created it, but by using Kaname's own memories against him he'd built it upon a foundation which the younger pureblood intrinsically owned. Then he had foolishly allowed Kaname build it up with him.

He expected Kaname to be hurt and paralyzed, perhaps even mentally destroyed... but he critically underestimated his opponent's mental fortitude. Maybe if Kaname had not already once lived these dark memories with Zero by his side, holding him together through the trauma, it would have had the effect Nasser wanted, but not now. Kaname was done being a victim. He would, however, gladly use Nasser's misconceptions against him.

_Kaname groaned as if in ecstasy, squirming desperately at the sensations flooding him, intentionally letting Nasser see weakness in him. Nasser took advantage of that, as Kaname knew he would. He took Kaname painfully deep and Kaname gasped, arms tightening around the older vampire. He buried his face against Nasser's neck, not pushing him away but instead pulling him in deeper... and then deeper still. _

_Nasser's was cruelly amused by how much Kaname seemed to unwillingly want him, how desperate the boy was to take in all of him and merge them soul shatteringly deep and hard. He more than happily obliged, making Kaname convulse and cry out._

He didn't realize that Kaname was expertly twisting their altered reality so that the harder he merged them physically and the more brutally he invaded Kaname's mind, the farther and farther he sank into the quicksand of a world which _Kaname_, not he, was controlling. Nasser thought he was the predator, but he was the fly in this web. Kaname pulled him deep into the sticky threads, letting Nasser's own cruel predilections entrap him.

_Kaname felt hot and slick with shame. Victory at any cost, that's what he'd decided. He knew what he was doing and he wasn't about to stop, but this tactic exacted a heavy price. He tried not to think about what Zero would think of him if he knew. He tried not to be ashamed of doing whatever it took to win when the odds were this far against him. He tried. _

Kaname knew he wouldn't leave this unscathed. He was now playing with the worst kind of fire. He knew it would burn him badly, perhaps utterly, but it was the only option he had. So he reinforced the surreal hell around them until it was strong enough to be a prison. He forced himself to be vulnerable in a way that made him utterly sick. He let Nasser own him in the dream world because Nasser was gone enough to mistakenly believe that it was a reflection of his victory in reality.

_Nasser half groaned, half snarled against his shoulder, grace and elegance gone in his bestial frenzy. Kaname's illusion body was wrenched and torn by the raw force of the dark passion... but his burning eyes were unreachable and alight with death. Nasser should have taken a warning from that, but Kaname kept his face close to Nasser's shoulder and the elder pureblood did not see the reflection of impending retribution staring him in the face. The younger pureblood's claws extended behind Nasser's back. His fangs unsheathed, becoming razor rows of ivory._

_He bit down on the throat against his face, claws tearing into the heaving back above him in earnest. There was strangely no taste of blood here in the dream world, but there was the satisfying sensation of tearing and rending of flesh. Nasser howled in shock and pain. He tried to reel backwards, but Kaname clung to him, wrapping around him and holding onto him like the sinewy coils of a snake, teeth and claws gouging unmercifully as the predator finally became the prey. _

This wasn't reality, Nasser wasn't physically being hurt, but the shared illusion now served very adequately as a representation of what was happening between them mentally. Kaname had turned the tables on his assailant. He'd allowed Nasser to violate his mind in order to trap him there.

Nasser recognized the snare too late. He thrashed and struggled, clawing at Kaname's mental barriers and causing the younger pureblood intense pain, but Kaname didn't let go. Nasser knew how to get _into_ his head, but he didn't know how to get _out _if Kaname made it difficult - and Kaname made it _very _difficult. He_ knew_ how to trap someone in their mind. More specifically, he knew how to trap them in _his _mind. Ironically, he had his uncle to thank for that. Years ago, he'd been on the receiving end of such treatment when Rido took possession of his body with his coerced consent. His uncle had walled him up in his own head. That had been a hideous experience, but he'd learned from it. Kaname had learned from every bad experience in his life. Maybe that's why he was so clever.

Even though it was long ago, Kaname still remembered the shape and the feeling of the barriers that Rido had used against him. He knew the lines along which to draw them to make them hold. He now turned that to his advantage and he walled _Nasser_ up instead, trapping his consciousness and holding it in the dark. The illusion around them shattered and twisted like a broken mirror, becoming jumbled and bloody - a barren wasteland lifted from some post-apocalyptic hell.

Nasser was a seething, violent mass of fury without form now. Kaname too had lost his illusionary shape and the intense struggle shifted to an indescribable battle of wills.

Nasser could see it all now and he was beyond enraged at having fallen into the trick. Kaname had _let _him rip open his chest. He'd counted on Nasser's reason being fogged by the blood and his actions emboldened to carelessness by the perceived victory of getting a grip on his opponent's heart. Vampires driven by instinct were twice as deadly and strong, but Nasser's true strength was in his cleverness, in his ability to foresee and forestall any attempts by his opponents. Kaname needed his head clouded, and he had achieved that.

Nasser knew Kaname well, but Kaname turned that strength into a weakness. He had used Nasser's very knowledge of his opponent against him. Nasser was well aware how much Kaname desperately hated and feared being helpless. In his diminished mental state he had not suspected that the boy would actually _allow _himself to be put in such a condition. Yet Kaname had, and it was the perfect bait to draw the elder pureblood in.

Nasser wasn't the only one who knew his opponent too well. Since the beginning, Nasser had pulled on the past and played with Kaname's head every single opportunity he'd been given. It had been quite successful up to now and that ensured he would try it again. Kaname had counted on that and like a predictable fool, Nasser had walked right into the trap.

It was a brilliant and gusty ploy, but Nasser tried to rally himself. He tried to fight back the anger, failure and panic in order to think the situation through.

_"What now, Kaname?" he taunted as their wills battled and clawed at one another in Kaname's head. "You can't kill me like this. Do you think you can keep me in here forever? I think not. You can't lock someone indefinitely inside a mind that isn't theirs, not if they don't want to stay. You turn your back on me for a minute and I'll have you. You don't dare leave this place long enough to return to your physical awareness or I'll be free in an instant. Our bodies remain as before. My hand is around your heart. The instant we separate, I'll crush you. If we __**don't**__ separate, your blood will continue to slowly leach into the ground. The poison will slowly devour you. Eventually you will lapse into unconsciousness, and then you'll be mine. Quite a checkmate. Tsk, tsk, Kaname... you still don't think things through, do you?" _

The truth was, Kaname could have done nothing else. All other roads at this point led to death. It was a desperate and risky plan to be sure, yet he was not quite as ill prepared as Nasser thought.

The biggest gamble as far as Kaname was concerned, was whether or not he could hold onto himself through what he had to endure in order to make Nasser vulnerable. Whether or not he could survive Nasser's violation and twist it to his advantage without it becoming his undoing. He hadn't been at all sure he could do that. It had been frighteningly possible that he would not be able to get past the trauma, and would spend his last moments alive in that twisted hell with Nasser before he was killed. With the alternative being his and Zero's certain death, however, he'd gone ahead and rolled those dice. He'd succeeded and now he had delayed and trapped Nasser. Despite his failing body, he would hold him here. He would hold him here _long enough, _even if it ended up killing him. Victory at any cost, he had decided.

Nasser was making another mistake, right now. It was he who hadn't thought this through, or perhaps it was his ego-centric pureblood pride which blinded him. In Kaname, he had wanted to create an opponent worthy of himself and he continued to see this as an exclusive contest between the two of them. It was the grandest of all chess games - his masterpiece.

Kaname doubted that he would ever beat Nasser at chess in a fair fight. He doubted any one could. But unbeknownst to Nasser, Kaname was creating his own rules. In this game there were no "kings", no single piece whose capture could end the game, no piece you couldn't sacrifice in order to attain your goal... even if that piece was you. The king could fall, so long as there was someone still left to play. That was a kind of strategy that Nasser would never understand.

Kaname wasn't about to enlighten Nasser prematurely. Only idiots felt the need to outline their plans to their enemies while there was still a chance for them to be disrupted. But even as Kaname grimly struggled to hold onto Nasser while keeping his mind blank and _not _giving away the answer, he felt something brush his consciousness. Lightly at first, then more firmly, more urgently. A smile crept across the formless impression of his face as he grappled with Nasser. All right then, the time had come.

_"The problem with you, Nasser, is that everything's a game to you," Kaname told him with cold, dark condescension. "A perfectly plotted little chess game that you always win... but I don't play by your rules, and life _isn't _quite like chess. The game doesn't end just because you take out the king..." _

_Nasser caught Kaname's meaning with a horrible start at the same moment that an outside sensation pulled at his awareness. "NO!" Again he howled, his vicious assault on his opponent's barriers whipping up to a frenzied blizzard of sheer, white-hot pain that blinded Kaname and nearly threw him back into his own walls. _

_Kaname was too close to victory to falter now. He hung on hard, fighting the pain and grasping Nasser with everything he had. His mental walls were crumbling, he couldn't hold them inside his head much longer, but that was all right. He had held on long enough. His continued impression of a smirk was grim. __**"Yes,"**__ he countered with a hiss. "You see it now, don't you? You've forgotten that the knight is still in play." _

The illusion around them shattered. Both of them were jerked back to the reality of the rough dirt floor of the crater, the canopy of thorns overhead and the thick, blood-choked air of the enclosure.

Kaname found himself staring up at Nasser. His hand was still around the other pureblood's throat and Nasser's fist still gripped his torn, beating heart within his breast, but Nasser had gone unusually pale. His sneering face had gone slack and a strange, gurgling sound issued from parted lips. There was a gaping hole in the center of his throat, directly above where Kaname gripped him. Kaname felt the fist around his heart squeeze dangerously tight, but silvery vines had encircled Nasser's body, twining about his arms and legs, rooting him in place and not allowing him enough movement or strength to complete the motion.

Kaname's gaze slid over Nasser's shoulder to where Zero stood, behind him. The hunter had the muzzle of the Bloody Rose pressed to the back of Nasser's head. The boy's face was grim, smudged with blood and ash and deathly pale. He seemed to be standing with difficulty. The barb in his side was gone. Blood had turned his torn shirt crimson and ran down the thigh of his pants much too freely, but his grip on the weapon was steady.

There was pure death in the amethyst eyes as they glared down at Nasser - the kind of raw, living hatred that Kaname had not seen in his lover for a long time. "I told you... not to touch him," the hunter growled.


	36. Aftermath

_A/N: Finally got another chapter posted! I feel like I probably could have dealt more skillfully with a couple things, but at least I got the chapter finished, so please pardon anything that may be lacking about it. :P _

_I drew a picture to go with this chapter. You can find it over in my Deviant Art account. The link to it is on my blog, which you can get to via the "homepage" link on my FFN bio._

_So as not to spoiler the chapter before you've read it, the rest of my author notes are after the chapter this time. :)_

**Chapter Thirty-Six: "Aftermath" **

Zero's violet eyes were edged with a ring of red and his face was frighteningly calm. He had pushed his injured body so far into overdrive that at the moment he didn't even feel his wounds or the faintness of his blood loss. Some distant part of him knew this strength came at a cost and that the resulting crash would be hard, but that didn't matter.

Nasser struggled with him and Zero twisted him up harder in the grip of his vines, pouring what little strength he had left into the seething ropes of thorns.

"This was always... your weakness..." Kaname murmured, his gaze on Nasser once more, a slightly ironic smile twisting the corner of his lips. "You thought... you had to do everything alone." Kaname knew well that trusting others _could_ be a weakness but he had also learned, albeit the hard way, that if you trusted the _right _people, then it could also be strength. He and Zero had just proved that. Alone, neither of them could have won against Nasser, but together, it was a different story.

Nasser's dark eyes dulled, the inescapable knowledge of his own loss settling on him like a mantle. There was a vaguely surprised expression on his drawn features, as if he couldn't quite understand how it had turned out like this. Kaname may be right about his weakness, but Nasser was too well entrenched in his ways of thinking to change now. Kaname could see in those dark eyes that Nasser was all but incapable of understanding something like the bond of trust that Kaname and Zero shared, much less their love. It was sad in a way, although the younger pureblood could bring himself to feel very little pity for his adversary after everything he had done.

The luster had drained out of Nasser's gaze but there was still something eerily cruel behind his glazing eyes, a kind of strength that only the certainty of defeat can bring. The mortally wounded pureblood went very still as Zero's deadly weapons snaked all around his body. This fight was over for him, but it would be over for Kaname too. He focused all final effort into one small movement and Kaname felt a hot needle of agony knife through him as Nasser's clawed thumbnail pierced precisely through the center of his damaged heart.

Nasser had chosen his parting shot well, but it was the last one he was going to be allowed to make. A moment later the writhing, vicious twists of the thorny vines contorting around Nasser's left arm severed it completely. There was a gush of blood and then the detached limb, already riddled with hunter poison, simply turned to dust. The hand gripping Kaname's heart vanished.

Kaname would have breathed a sigh of relief if he wasn't in quite so much pain. Unfortunately, the sudden emptiness of the wound made his blood flow faster, filling his damaged lungs and chest cavity in a way that was very counter-productive to normal bodily function. His torn heart pounded raggedly, trying too hard to make up for all the blood he was losing and making him feel incredibly ill. Nasser's last little dig had been one too many. Kaname's heart had taken too much damage for his current state and he wasn't sure his body was going to be able to mend him this time. Strangely though, he wasn't afraid. Maybe it was the adrenaline of battle making him numb, but at the moment he was afraid of nothing. _What would be would be. They had won. Nasser had lost._ For this one moment in time, that was enough

The vines encircling Nasser's body dug into him like hungry fingers, burrowing into his flesh, threading through his body like a sewing needle through cloth. Zero shifted his gun to the side of Nasser's neck and shot him again at point blank range, aiming cross-wise to make sure there was no danger of hitting Kaname. Because of Nasser's resilience none of his shots were immediately fatal, but they _were_ incapacitating. Zero wasn't giving the other vampire a chance to recover. For some reason though, he was intentionally keeping Nasser alive and a moment later, Kaname understood _why_.

Vines curled around Nasser's head and shoulders, yanking his head to the side and bending him over slightly, offering his neck to the injured pureblood below him. "You need this?" Zero asked Kaname quietly, an intense sliver of concern and warmth flickering around the edges of the almost frightening icy hardness of his gaze.

Even though you couldn't tell it by looking at him, Zero felt like his own heart had been dislodged and was pounding up in his throat as he looked down at Kaname. Waking up and seeing Nasser on top of his lover with his hand in Kaname's chest and Kaname's blood _everywhere _had been the most terrifying moment of his life. Dazed and groggy, it was several terrible moments before he realized that the two purebloods were strangely frozen and unmoving, locked as they were in mental battle inside Kaname's head.

In that first horrible instant when he woke and saw them, Zero had thought he was too late. He thought he was about to watch Kaname die in front of him as he had once watched his parents die. It would be the second time he had failed to stop a pureblood vampire from taking everything he loved away from him right before his eyes. In that moment he realized how terribly losing Kaname would shatter him. It was a blow from which he could not recover. He had lived a century in that moment. Something in his mind and soul had unwound dangerously. The terror and the fury had thrown him into motion with desperate abandon and given him the will to pour everything into this last attack, consequences be damned.

Zero had been ready to use himself up to destroy the bastard who took Kaname from him... but Kaname wasn't dead. Kaname was still here with him and Zero was going to make damn sure he stayed that way, no matter what he had to do.

Beneath his furious hatred towards the vampire he now held captive, the fear of a few moments ago was still with Zero. Kaname had been seriously wounded. He was a horrific mess and he wasn't healing. Normally a bright white flame, he was now an almost non-existent flicker in Zero's hunter senses. Zero knew his senses were not terribly reliable at the moment because he himself was in pretty bad shape, but it was still terrifying. He wasn't going to completely kill Nasser until he knew whether Kaname needed to eat him in order to survive. The thought _should_ have disgusted him, but in the heat of the moment, it didn't. Nasser did not deserve his consideration and nothing that kept Kaname alive could be entirely reprehensible. It was that simple.

The red rim around Zero's eyes was slowly bleeding inward, replacing their natural color and setting his irises aflame. He was badly spent and literally surrounded by puddles of pure vampire blood. It was too much stimulus in his condition, the crash he battled to stave off was imminent. He was still in control, but blood lust was crawling into his chest and starting to make a home there. It stirred the slumbering beast inside him, waking all the violent desires that he normally kept suppressed. It was all Zero could do to hang onto his reason and not heedlessly tear the vampire in his grip into little pieces right then and there just for the sheer satisfaction of doing it. .

Kaname struggled to breathe around the blood filling his lungs. Zero was right. He needed to feed if he wanted to survive his injuries. It was the logical conclusion to the battle and a tradition as old as their race. It was the right of the victorious vampire to claim the lifeblood of the defeated, especially in a battle between purebloods. His fangs throbbed. More than just the need to survive... Nasser's blood _called_ to him. Even severely diluted with hunter poison, the power in it beckoned to his animal instincts. From the first time they met, he had always wanted Nasser's power.

Kaname was not innocent. He had tasted his own kind and he knew the forbidden pleasure, the power-rush of absorbing someone else's life essence. He could understand why Nasser sought this ultimate form of prey and had made a lifetime profession out of hunting and devouring untold numbers of his own. He could understand all too well... and that disgusted him.

Nasser's dark eyes were on him - silent, waiting, almost expectant. Kaname's chest heaved raggedly as their gazes met and locked. He had always found those eyes too close a mirror to his own soul. He understood Nasser better than he liked. Much as he might wish to deny it, in many ways they were not so dissimilar. If Kaname had not had Yuki in his life when he was young... if he did not have Zero in his life now... if there was nothing he believed in enough to warrant the constant suppression of his own darker nature... if seeking power and his own pleasure were the only goals he had to live for... who could say whether he would end up any differently? Every choice, every changing ripple in the fabric of life created new, diverging branches of possibilities, much like every move in a chess game opened up certain avenues while closing others. Kaname was too skilled a tactician to pretend that he could not imagine an outcome in which he was the same as the creature that now held his gaze.

Nasser showed him much too clearly what he could become. He could be strong enough to satiate his desire for invulnerability and powerful enough to make sure things always happened as he wished, but twisted up with that power was a vicious, soulless cruelty that achieved its ends because it simply didn't care about anyone else. This was the _"potential" _that the elder pureblood had always sought to unlock in him. Even now, at the end, Nasser's fading gaze held a beckoning spark. _"Do it," _his eyes seemed to say._ "Finish this. Become me. Take my place... I've always known you had it in you." _With death all but inevitable, it seemed as if he _wanted _Kaname to end him this way. He wanted the satisfaction of knowing that he had shaped him and the boy would go on to become everything he wanted him to be. He wanted Kaname to have to live every day for the rest of his life with the knowledge that _his_ blood and _his_ power dwelt inside him.

Kaname hesitated. What Nasser wanted was clear, the question was... was that what _he _wanted? He knew what it was like to try to assimilate another pureblood's power. He knew that it took quite a while before you could get them completely out of your head. Shizuka had plagued him for months, Nasser would no doubt be much worse. Did he really want Nasser inside of him like that? Did he want to carry some part of this man around with him forever?

The pain was almost blinding. Kaname knew he was probably making a mistake - a stupid, emotion-based mistake no less... but so be it. Nasser had always called his attachment to others and his craving for love the weaknesses of a fool. Perhaps he was right, but Kaname didn't care anymore. He chose to embrace that weakness and to find in it a different kind of strength. _That_, perhaps, was what truly made them different and _that_ was what he would hold onto. He was without doubt a fool, but he was his _own _fool. He was going to go on as if Nasser had never existed. He was going to live life in his own manner and be _happy _in ways that Nasser had never experienced and _that _was his ultimate defiance and his ultimate victory.

Kaname shook his head decisively. He was not Nasser. He would _never _be like Nasser. He would not walk his path, nor did he wish to retain any reminder that this blight of a man had ever existed. "No," he said simply, his gaze shifting away from Nasser and up to Zero. "I don't want _anything _of his."

Nasser looked startled and rage flickered in his eyes again. It seemed to upset him that his life would essentially be 'wasted' and all the power he'd sought so long and so hard to acquire would come to nothing. He may be the most influential man in the world, but he had nothing to leave behind him once he was dust. Organizations and companies would divide and go on their separate ways under new leaders. People would forget. After thousands of years of life, he would leave this world with no lasting legacy to mark his passing and that obviously burned him.

Kaname gave a faint, grim smile as his head fell back to rest against the ground. It was kind of worth what he was giving up, just to piss Nasser off one last time. Zero was definitely rubbing off on him.

Zero was watching Kaname closely, his eyes now completely red. He understood at least some of the reasons why his lover refused to feed, despite how obvious it was that he needed to. Perhaps, given his history, he was one of the few people in the world who _could_ understand. Yet he also knew that Kaname was critically wounded and it may very well be fatal if he did not get some blood to replace that which he had lost. Zero would gladly give to him, but he was hardly in any better shape - a fact which was being brought home ever stronger as he felt the familiar, damming acid of need eroding away at the edges of his control. His injuries aside, he had expended far too much of himself using his powers. Blood lust, always his bane, already had a vice-like grip on his chest and was starting to tighten, crushing inward with that maddening, destructive force that never got any easier for him to handle. There was so damn much blood all around them and so much of it was Kaname's. It made ravenous desire curl in his gut and he felt sick with himself.

He was fighting the burn and maintaining his control, but he knew from experience how unstoppable this progression could prove to be once started. In his condition, he feared for his continued ability to resist the unforgivable allure that his lover's blood held for him. Normally it wouldn't matter, but right now it did. Kaname was too vulnerable, he could not and probably _would _not fight back.

Zero could not afford to lose his head for even a moment or he risked killing the very person he would give his life to protect. It was an ugly feeling, but he didn't have time to waste on self-pity or self-loathing. The adrenaline-laced intuition driving him decreed that those were useless feelings which were not going to help him right now. He needed to take a page from his lover's book and treat both his own need for blood and Kaname's as simple facts - a problem for which he needed to find a solution before his ability to think rationally dissolved.

He didn't have to think too hard, the solution was literally in front of him. There was a way to staunch Zero's need _and_ give him blood to spare to take care of Kaname. For him it was a somewhat dangerous and repulsive way, but he could live with that. Instinct was taking over – the instinct to survive and most of all the instinct to protect his mate, both from his injuries and from himself.

Zero held Kaname's gaze. He hoped his lover would understand what he was about to do. "Guess he's mine then," he said darkly. The vines tightened, yanking Nasser back against the ex-human as the silver head dropped to the elder vampire's exposed neck. Zero's fangs sunk into Nasser's throat and he drew hard.

Nasser gave a strangled howl of protest at the ultimate humiliation of having his last blood taken by a mere ex-human, especially _this _ex-human. Zero gained a certain dark satisfaction from that before the blood hit him and everything blurred like a camera lens going out of focus.

Nasser's blood literally burned as it entered him. It was infused with so much hunter poison by now that it was practically toxic. The thought flittered through Zero's mind that it was a damn good thing Kaname hadn't taken from him. In Kaname's state, the shock of the poison could have killed him before the blood had a chance to do him any good. Nasser had probably suspected as much and hoped for it, the bastard. Zero growled and drove his fangs deeper. On some instinctual level he knew that though the poison may burn him, it wouldn't kill him. Zero's body was proving uniquely able to neutralize and filter out this particular strain. Of course, that was not really such a great surprise considering that he himself had also been the roundabout source of the poison.

His prey thrashed in his grip and he hung on tighter. Despite the toxins, Nasser's blood was still incredibly heady. Once long ago, in a less charitable mood, Zero had compared Kaname's blood to poison and Nasser's was about a dozen times more concentrated. It hit him like pure heroin and the more he ingested, the less the world made sense. The dark, thick blood filled his senses and sent them reeling. His thoughts scattered as his vampire nature sucked him under, shutting down his higher brain function. Somewhere in the chaos of crimson there was a struggle, the sensation of tearing flesh and a flash of familiar energy. Over it all he was aware of the hard, throbbing pound of his own heartbeat in his ears, seeming somehow deafeningly loud as it drown out all other input.

By the time awareness of his surroundings returned to Zero, Nasser was no more. Kaname was still lying on the ground. The ex-human was kneeling over his lover, straddling Kaname's waist. The young hunger's fingers were digging into his own sides as he clutching himself. He was groaning low in his throat and rocking back and forth. Kaname's trembling fingers were combing soothingly through his hair in an effort to calm him. Pearlescent ashes were scattered about, dissolving into the bloodstained earth about them and disappearing.

"What... happened?" Zero asked hoarsely, squeezing his eyes shut against the dizzying pops of light occurring only in his own head. He panted for breath. It had been a long time since he'd blacked out while drinking. He felt like he was on a really, really bad acid trip. Or what he _imagined_ that would feel like, anyway.

"It's over," Kaname whispered in answer, his voice faint from his injuries but still managing to sound tender. He didn't have the strength or the breath to give details. Nasser had tried to fight Zero and for a moment confusing chaos had reigned. Nasser attempted to take advantage of it when the ex-human started to lose himself in the blood. Kaname had mustered enough strength to sock the other pureblood with a weak, but effective energy punch and a moment later Zero literally crushed him to bits with his vines. Nasser's body had simply disappeared, leaving behind only blood and this light scattering of ashes. Strange how insubstantial it seemed, how impossible it appeared for this faint sprinkling of dust to have ever been an entire living being.

It was hard to believe that Nasser was actually _gone _and Kaname almost didn't believe it, except that he'd seen it_. _The whole situation felt somehow surreal and almost anti-climactic, but Kaname suspected that was most likely because he was in shock. His body felt numb and everything seemed very far away. Only the sensation of Zero's hair, warm and soft under his fingers could reach him. Only the hunter's forehead coming to rest lightly against his shoulder and the ragged brush of Zero's uneven breathing against his neck felt real.

"Did I... I didn't...?" Zero couldn't quite form the question. The way he was kneeling over Kaname scared him. He was afraid of what he might have done, or might have _almost _done.

"Of course not," Kaname whispered softly, his voice betraying his absolute faith that Zero would never hurt him. It had perhaps been a near thing. Zero had been deeply out of it right after Nasser's death and Kaname was the only potential prey left for him. Even in that state, however, Zero hadn't gone for him. He'd held back from the critically wounded pureblood and forced himself out of the blood haze, going against the natural impulse of every vampire and hunter instinct in him.

Zero's tense body relaxed slightly. Kaname continued to stroke his hair with numb, clumsy fingers as the boy began to shiver uncontrollably. Zero's actions with Nasser had initially surprised him, but he was glad the hunter had gotten something back from the other pureblood. Zero deserved that and Kaname was sure that after this fight, he had also needed it badly.

Zero was not a pureblood so he could not inherit Nasser's power the way another pureblood would. That meant he wouldn't get nearly as much benefit from it, but it also meant the elder vampire could not linger with him in the way he would have with Kaname. The human side of the hunter's genome protected him from that. It also helped protect him a little from another possibly serious side-effect of his actions.

Kaname felt a lump in his throat and his hand curled tightly in Zero's hair before stroking the torn side of Zero's neck. "Look at me, Zero..." he murmured. "Look at me. Are you all right?"

Zero rested his head against Kaname's shoulder for a few more moments, struggling with the weird sensations twirling around inside him. He felt empty. He needed very much to touch Kaname, to be close to him... and he knew why. He and Nasser had traded blood during the fight, meaning that for the few brief moments before he died a bond was trying to take root. _Thank God_ Nasser hadn't lasted long enough for it to truly form before it had been severed. Zero's ex-human constitution also protected him to a certain extent from such things, as it always had, making him less affected then he would have been if he had been born a vampire. He'd known what he was getting into and accepted the risk. The ache inside him blended with his overall disorientation, but he could deal with it.

Finally, he lifted his head, rocking unsteadily back on his knees so he was straddling more carefully over Kaname's hips and placing less pressure against his lover's injured body. He met Kaname's worried gaze caressed his cheek. "Fine," he murmured hoarsely. "I'm going to be fine. I'm sorry."

Kaname was glad to see that Zero's lilac eyes were their correct color again. He shook his head quickly to let him know there was no need to apologize. Zero had done nothing wrong. He didn't like the thought of his lover being forced to have any kind of connection to Nasser no matter how brief, but the hunter was _already_ bonded to a pureblood; their bond was very strong and it took precedent. That would enable Kaname to help Zero ward off most of the aftereffects of the aborted connection with Nasser. Kaname had little to offer right now, but he tugged lightly at Zero through their connection, making sure the hunter felt him and knew he was there. He understood quite well how important that was.

Kaname's fingers trembled weakly as he reached up and touched Zero's cheek, leaving bloody fingerprints there, but his eyes were strong and victorious as he met and held Zero's gaze. Kaname was in horribly critical condition, but his spirit at least was undimmed. Perhaps if he had more strength he might have been angry with Nasser for putting Zero through yet one more ordeal, but that would be rather pointless since the man was dead. All Kaname cared about now was that Zero was all right. He tried to say so, but he choked on the blood clogging his lungs. He gagged and retched painfully.

Zero quickly slid a hand under Kaname's head and carefully lifted him off the ground. Gentle, thorn-less vines slid around the pureblood's back helping to support him. The inclined position seemed to help Kaname's labored breathing significantly and the pureblood's gagging slowly tailed off.

Zero's blood lust was thankfully gone although his injuries continued to bleed freely. His body was apparently still struggling to process the poison out of Nasser's blood and not yet using it to heal. Or possibly, his unprecedented energy expenditure had thrown everything out of whack and his body simply needed more time to sort itself out. He pressed one hand against the throbbing gash in his side while continuing to support Kaname with the other. He gave his lover a small, tenderly ironic little smile. "You look terrible," he murmured.

Kaname's lips twitched in return. "You too."

"How do we always end up like this?" Zero shook his head, trying not to look too hard at the ugly, gaping hole torn in his lover's chest. "I think it's your fault."

Kaname was still smiling faintly and he surprised Zero by not arguing. "Probably," he murmured simply.

Zero leaned closer, nudging his already torn and gaping shirt collar a little further off his neck. "Hey... we really kicked his butt, huh?" He murmured, a mixture of jibe and slight disbelief in his tone. There had been a part of him that hadn't believed they'd actually make it through this.

Kaname leaned closer, desperately needing what he knew Zero was offering. "We did, rather," he agreed, the small smile tugging at his lips again before the motion and his torn body drew another pained wince from him. "Too bad we weren't the only ones doing the kicking," he added ruefully.

Zero shifted, trying to lean closer to Kaname without pressing too hard against his legs. "What, you hurt or something?" he said wryly. "Aren't you going to tell me you're fine and those are just scratches?"

"Idiot," the pureblood huffed, breathless with need as he nuzzled his face urgently against the side of Zero's neck. He was too weak to hold his own head up and Zero had to shift his grip to hold him in place so he could feed.

"Hey, that's my line," Zero protested, his breath shuddering in his chest as Kaname's warm lips moved against his neck, fumbling slightly before latching on. All of Kaname's teeth were still aroused, not just the ones to which Zero was accustomed. The foreign feeling sent a shiver down his spine, but it was not from fear.

"Too bad... I stole it," Kaname returned, his voice turning into a groan against Zero's skin. He was trying so hard to shift his teeth back to normal before he bit Zero, but his fangs weren't obeying him and he simply wasn't capable of waiting anymore. Two rows of razors clamped on Zero's neck and Kaname groaned again, his throat working urgently as Zero's blood flooded blissfully into his mouth.

Kaname felt life flowing slowly back into his numb body. He needed this blood more than he'd been admitting to himself. He probably would have died without it, but it was somehow important to him that he owed his life to Zero, not to Nasser. It was fitting that Nasser's blood should give back to Kaname what he had taken, but filtered through Zero's body, Kaname didn't have to think about the despicable older pureblood, nor worry about the darkness of that departed soul.

Zero held him close, letting him take whatever he needed. It was a sweet, unusual juxtaposition of roles between them, but not one that either seemed to mind. Kaname sucked hungrily and yet gently at lover's neck. Despite the deep, needy bite of his extra fangs it was still the intimate gesture of a lover. Kaname tasted nothing of the poison or darkness that Zero had filtered out of Nasser. It was only Zero's feelings of adoration and relief which came to him through the rich blood. Kaname lost himself in that warmth and in the safe embrace of that love and these arms. After the raw violation he'd forced himself to endure in order to trap Nasser, he needed this gentle touch of Zero's soul almost as much as the blood itself.

Zero wasn't in peak shape. His body was still getting over his power usage and he felt himself sliding into a peaceful haze as Kaname drank from him. It was like riding in the back of a warm car on a summer evening after having spent all day running about out of doors. A comfortable, leaden weight took over Zero's limbs. As strength flowed out of him and into his lover, he found himself slowly sinking down against the pureblood. Unconsciously, he let Kaname take over supporting their weight at some point along the way as the pureblood's strength grew and his ebbed.

Kaname only took enough to enable him to survive, although that was still a lot. In his condition he could have killed Zero and _still_ not healed all his own hurts, but of course he was careful not to do so.

He finally withdrew from Zero's neck when he realized that he was sitting under his own power and he was now the one holding his lover upright. The young hunter's body was slumped against his chest. Kaname blinked to clear his head.

"Zero?" The pulse of Zero's life beat strong against his chest, so he wasn't truly _afraid_, although he did feel a bit of guilt. He knew that his lover was still in a semi-fragile state and he'd just taken a lot from him.

Zero stirred slightly, but his eyes remained closed. He mumbled something as if incredibly sleepy. Kaname saw the vines around them shrinking and retracting back into Zero's body. He realized that Zero must truly need to shut down and rest. Now that the threat of Nasser was gone, the ex-human was unconsciously recalling all the power he'd expended through his vines. As a result, the enclosure around them began to crumble and vanish away.

A breeze stirred Kaname's hair about his ears as fresh air leaked into the stale enclosure. Sunlight broke through the disintegrating canopy of vines in mottled beams, catching on the dancing motes of dust in the air and illuminating the gore splattered crater in which the two vampires knelt. The stained earth, before an inky black, now glittered a macabre cheery shade of crimson about them.

Kaname winced as the bright sunlight burned against his exposed skin. He was still much too weak and it hurt like hell, but there wasn't much to be done about that. He shifted, shading Zero a little with his body as he gathered the boy with difficulty into his arms. Zero did not respond to the motion, his head lolling against Kaname's chest. Kaname wasn't sure if he was actually unconscious, or just too drained to move on his own.

The pureblood wasn't crazy about the idea of moving either, but as much as his hurting body screamed for rest he knew there wasn't time. No longer cut off from the outside, he could hear the murmur of voices and sense the presence of many people just outside the crater. Many _hunters _to be precise. With the barrier around them disintegrating, there was the rest of the world to be faced now. There would be consequences for what had happened today. He needed to attempt damage control.

Kaname let his head sink for a moment, struggling with an almost overwhelming weariness. He didn't want to do this. He didn't want to have to go up there and deal with the mess he knew was waiting for them. He was not coming out of this fight unscathed. His torn shirt hid the ugly gash in his chest, but it was still there, along with many of the other wounds Nasser had given him. His body was focusing on the most important internal damage first, but even that was slow going. He wanted to just curl up with Zero and sleep. He wanted it so badly it triggered a humiliating prick of tears behind his eyes as he tried to force himself to move.

Pressing his eyes shut, Kaname calmed himself. They were almost out of this, he couldn't falter now. Zero had saved him and it was now his turn to make sure they both got out of here alive. If he passed out now, there was no telling in what circumstances he would be when he awoke. The thought of possibly waking up in some hunter isolation cell somewhere with no idea where Zero was or what had happened to him was significantly terrifying enough to force Kaname into motion. He didn't have long before his body would shut down with or without his consent. He needed to try and get things settled before that or he would lose any chance to influence their situation.

Kaname spared a moment to pick up the Bloody Rose from where it had fallen and shove it under Zero's belt, in the waistband of the hunter's pants. His lover would be pissed if he forgot that. Then the pureblood levitated unsteadily up out of the crater in which their fight had taken place, carrying Zero in his arms. Several of the constructs Zero had created out of the earth and the stone of the podium still remained, like ruins of some bizarre ancient civilization, but the majority of the canopy had disappeared. The vines were gone but the bubble created by the hunter seals surrounding them remained. That was a barrier Kaname dare not try to cross in his condition. Even this small expenditure of power was quickly becoming too much for his battered body and as soon as they were out of the crater he sank to the earth, going to his knees on the broken tiles of the courtyard that had been outside Zero's previous circle of vines, but were still inside the hunter's charmed rings.

A deep hush fell over the courtyard at their appearance, settling thick and oppressive on the tense air. Somewhere overhead a bird chirruped, happily unaware of how out of place it's careless high spirits were to the knots of people gathered below.

The seals on the ground burned red with an unnatural light. Row after row of them bathed the immediate surroundings in a threatening, blood-red cast. The light they gave off was not very bright, but the pureblood's vision was already dim with exhaustion and the glow of the charms drawn specifically to imprison his kind combined with the bright sunlight made his eyes smart and sting. It intensified the pain of his injuries as if the gravity pulling on his broken bones and wounded body had suddenly increased. Worn to the bone, he could feel the weight of the encircling spells pressing in on them, making it increasingly harder and harder to breathe. He wasn't going to be able to hold out long in this cage.

Kaname noticed in a distant, almost detached way how the pale stones beneath him were quickly becoming slick with a combination of his and Zero's blood, painting a new portrait of crimson here much like the one they'd left down below. That wasn't good. He was already aware of his own damage, but the speed with which the crimson around them was spreading made his concern for Zero spike sharply. Zero had paid a hard price for standing by him and the pureblood's sluggish, damaged heart pounded with worry. He was finding it hard to think and hard to clearly assess how much danger Zero's wounds might present. He could be fine, or he could be dying. Kaname couldn't tell and that terrified him. He felt like every thought going through his head had to travel around the earth several times before it made it back to him. He was so tired.

Kaname held Zero's body to him, hunching over him slightly as he tried to gather himself, tried to be strong enough to protect them both from whatever may come now... but he knew he wasn't. Nasser had gotten a part of his heart - that wasn't something he could just snap back from. It would take days, maybe weeks for him to grow it back and until then he was going to be significantly weakened. His body was so battered it was doing all it could to stay conscious and functional at the same time, protesting vehemently at having to do both.

Squinting as he tried to catch his breath, he got an impression of the wreck of the plaza and partially shattered buildings around them. _Shit. This was his fault and there was going to be hell to pay._ They were in a bad spot and he knew it. He was critically weakened and they were surrounded by potential enemies with very good reason to be both dangerously angry and afraid of him. That combination could well be lethal at this stage. People destroy what scares them, and he was in no position to stop them.

Zero stirred, arms curling around Kaname as his consciousness slowly began to reassert itself.

Kaname breathed raggedly. He lifted his head with effort, gazing out through the stinging glow of the layered charm circles and towards the hunters surrounding them. There was a veritable army there by now. More must have been called in while he, Zero and Nasser had been locked in combat in their own little world. Even if Kaname _had _been foolish enough to attempt breaking through the seals, there were too many of them on the other side. The pureblood and ex-human were well trapped. The hunters had their weapons trained on the two vampires in the circle and could easily shoot them dead where they knelt.

In the middle of a complete black-out bubble, after what had just happened, they could do so without serious repercussions. The treaty had been openly broken which was as good as an act of war. If they realized or even suspected that Kaname had been the one who broke it, then even killing a pureblood would not have been outside their jurisdiction. All they had to do was say he'd gone mad and that they'd had to stop him before he destroyed the entire city. No doubt, there were many here who truly believed that and there was plenty of proof to back them up. The Council wouldn't truly care. They hated him anyway. It was a golden opportunity for the hunters and very probably the only reason they had not already run with it was because of the one-eyed hunter currently in charge of the group.

Yagari had history with them, he would at least wait to be sure whether or not Kaname was a threat and in any case he would not easily order Zero killed, not without a _damn _good reason. Kaname counted on both those facts, but the last one especially. Fallout from all this was probably going to be ugly, but he couldn't let Zero get caught in it. This was his mess and he'd figure it out somehow. Yagari's presence brought them time, but he was only in charge because of seniority, if the others started questioning his impartiality because of Zero's involvement and took things into their own hands, matters could still go badly. The hunters looked incredibly spooked, angry and wary. Kaname knew he needed to try and appease them, to let them feel they were in control and that they didn't need to prove that by killing anyone. They also needed to see he wasn't a raving loony or a cornered beast that might turn on them.

Kaname straightened slightly, keeping Zero protectively close while intentionally making himself an easy target. He gave the hunters the ability to line up a clean headshot so that none of them would be tempted to shoot Zero in an attempt to get him if that's the way things went down. He regarded their captors with a calm, steady gaze, his dark eyes still holding an indefinable inner strength of will despite the fact that his body trembled with exhaustion, his vision fluxing with every arrhythmic beat of his torn heart.

"Nasser Ardon attacked us, put everyone present in jeopardy and is now dead," he said simply, his hoarse voice betraying no emotion. It was mostly true, but Kaname had no problem lying with graceful conviction either - not about this. "I submit to you that his death was a matter of self-defense between two purebloods as is allowable under our laws, and that any actions by myself or Zero which infringed upon the treaty were undertaken only in an effort to prevent a greater calamity. I understand if there needs to be an inquest about what has happened here today and I am prepared to surrender myself into your custody until the validity of these assertions can be established," Kaname said quietly, a certain dignity managing to be present in his soft tones despite the situation.

He did not lightly submit himself to someone else's control, especially not so soon after he'd had to tear himself open for Nasser in order to trap him - that was going to smart for a while and it made him afraid. He knew the inherent danger that once into the hunter dungeons he might never get out, but he also knew he had little choice at the moment. He wasn't bargaining from a place of power. He needed to be as reasonable and appeasing as he could be. He needed them to not be afraid or things could go badly. Besides, he was reasonably assured that he could eventually figure his way out of most situations in which he was still alive, and there were others who would work for him and his interests as well, even if he were not at liberty. Right now the goal was getting out of this circle alive... and more especially, getting _Zero _out of this circle alive and with his future still intact.

"As a representative of the Council of Elders, I acknowledge what you have said, what I myself have seen, and I will bear witness to such in any forthcoming inquiries," Takuma said quietly, obviously speaking for the benefit of the others present rather than Kaname. His formal words and tone carried just enough authority to remind the hunters that they had a Council member present as observer without offering any kind of challenge to their authority over the situation.

Kaname knew his friend's presence here would help, but the situation was still dangerous. If he were killed, the four nobles would also have to be eliminated, but there was no guarantee that would be seen as a significant problem. Vampire life was cheap to most hunters. It wouldn't be a terribly _smart _move for them, but that didn't diminish its possibility.

One of the more edgy looking hunters glanced between Takuma and Kaname before turning his gaze back on Kaname and snorting derisively. "You're not going anywhere, you blood sucking freak. _Look _at this place, look at what you've _done_. You think we'll just let you walk out of there?" Obviously, the speaker considered such a move tantamount to suicide. His attitude was not unreasonable. If the situation were different, he might be right. After all, if it were Nasser who had survived this fight and not Kaname, they would all have had very good reason to fear for their lives. An injured vampire was a hungry vampire and Nasser would have tried to make a snack out of all of them.

Yagari shot the man a cool look, not reproachful, but reminding him that he didn't have any authority to be making decisions on his own. Regardless, Yagari knew the fellow was right about one thing. They couldn't allow Kaname out of the charmed enclosure just yet, it would divide the hunters and start something ugly. What Kaname said was reasonable, and he did not think the young pureblood was a threat, but they needed to proceed cautiously through the minefield now confronting them all. Kuran was wise to consent to being taken into custody because that _was_ what was going to need to happen in order to resolve this peaceably in the short term. If he'd resisted, that would make things politically sticky, but him offering the idea up himself opened the possibility of trying to keep this on a level where it wouldn't have to totally snowball into a major diplomatic issue for either the hunters or vampires.

"Ardon's a known threat to the peace considering he's already broken the treaty by turning and using our brethren for his own purposes, and attempting to infiltrate headquarters," Yagari drawled. Like Takuma, he was ostensibly responding to Kaname, but the words were more for the benefit of his fellow hunters. Most of them knew that something big had been going on at HQ lately, even if not all of them were aware of the details. Now seemed a prudent time to let that cat out of the bag. "It's not too much of a stretch to believe he's responsible for this mess too, but this situation has gone too far to clean up easy. There _are_ some questions that will need to be sorted out. Sit tight for now. We have transportation coming, soon as it gets here, we'll be able to escort you out."

Kaname knew that that was the polite way of saying they had paddy wagons on the way, and once they had the appropriate restraints to place on him to assure his continued cooperation, _then _they would take him in. No surprise, really, except that Yagari was being more diplomatic than was normal for the blunt, plain-spoken man. _"You can come out when you're in the right chains," _would have been a more normal response. Again, Kaname got the feeling that Yagari's sudden growth of tact was for the benefit of his companions. The senior hunter was intentionally setting a certain kind of tone and guiding the others to unconsciously follow him by example. Kaname had to respect him, Yagari was no fool. He realized the charged, dangerous situation they were in and was doing a good job of keeping it under control without giving anyone a reason to disagree with him.

"You can't seriously expect to _arrest _Kaname-sama for protecting everyone here?" Ruka's voice was indignant.

The hunters had already removed all the other vampires present from the scene, leaving only Kain, Ruka, Takuma and Shiki. Those four had refused to budge and with some misgiving, Yagari had finally accepted Takuma's demand that as a member of the Council of Elders, he and the others be allowed to remain to act as witnesses for whatever transpired here. The Council would certainly throw a royal snit if one of their representatives was excluded from a matter than concerned such a potentially touchy issue for their race. Considering Takuma was the _only _friend Kuran had on that particular governing body, this was likely to go in his favor given how things seemed to be turning out.

The four vampires had been allowed to remain, although they were ringed with guards who held weapons trained on them, just in case. Council member or no, no one here was forgetting that these four were in Kuran's camp.

"Understood," Kaname said calmly in response to Yagari, cutting off any further protests on his behalf. His gaze was firm as it fixed on the small group of vampires outside the circle, clearly telling them not to cause trouble. Or at least, it was as firm as he could make it when he could barely see them through the black splotches swirling nauseatingly through his vision. He was relieved to see that they got the message, even if not all of them were very happy about it.

He shifted his grip on Zero as the hunter sat up a little more in his arms. The silver haired boy blinked to clear his blurry vision, wincing a bit in pain as his motions pulled at his injuries. The pureblood moved his hand with Zero so he could continue to apply careful pressure to the deep, bleeding wound in his lover's side.

"I ask only one thing," Kaname continued evenly, still speaking to the hunters, his gaze now fixed directly on Yagari. "Please let Kiriyu out now, and allow my associates to take him home," he nodded towards Takuma and the others. "He is in urgent need of medical attention. Any and all issues that may need clearing up are mine to deal with. He simply did his duty as a hunter by stopping a dangerous vampire and is guilty of nothing in this matter. In point of fact, he is responsible for saving all your lives."

Zero frowned as he suddenly became aware of what Kaname was doing. "Kaname..." he murmured warningly, but the pureblood hushed him.

"Be still, Zero. You're bleeding much too heavily," he murmured, then to the hunters he said, "I'm going to send him out now. He can pass through without harm, is that not correct? You will give him safe passage?"

Kaname knew Zero could pass right through the charmed circles around them with or without the hunter's approval. His status as a tamed vampire made him immune to certain forms of hunter containment. Kaname just needed to be sure the hunters wouldn't freak out and _shoot_ Zero if he sent him out. He didn't think it would be too hard to convince them. Zero was one of their own and Yagari would stand up for him.

"Right," Yagari said simply, not allowing for debate on the subject from the others. "He can come through. Send him on out."

Kaname took a moment to press his hand more firmly to Zero's side. His and Zero's blood was freely mingled on their clothing and skin. With a shuddering breath, he used what little strength he had left to cause some of his blood to form a tight bandage over Zero's wound, finally stopping the worrisome blood loss for the time being. The rest of his failing strength he pressed into Zero in a way that would stimulate his body to heal. That should hold him until he could get proper treatment, but it had taken the last of Kaname's reserves, which was why he'd waited until after the important negotiations were over. The pureblood felt a cold, spinning numbness beginning to creep through his body. It was going to shut down soon. He couldn't hold it off much longer.

With a small amount of urgency, he shifted Zero gently off his lap to the ground. Zero was in a bad way, but with the boost he'd just given him he should be able to make it out of the circle on his own power. "Go," Kaname murmured. "It's all right, I'll be fine."

* * *

Aido could hardly tear his eyes off the two bloody figures in the courtyard. It took all his self control, and Seiren's warning grip to keep him from leaping down there blindly to... to... well, to do _what _he had no idea and that was the problem. There _wasn't _much he could do other than watch this situation unfold and the helplessness was suffocating. The majority of the people who meant the most to him in the world were down there and in imminent danger. Kaname, Zero, Kain, Ruka... _Kaname and Zero looked so bad. _Aido had seen Kaname weak before, but the sight was still intensely distressing to him. He'd seen both Kaname and Zero pulled half dead out of the waters of a devastating flood some years back and had hoped to never see them in such a state again. Apparently, life was not in the habit of giving him what he wanted.

A soft click drew his attention momentarily back to his companion and he saw Seiren adjust her grip on the slender, ultra-light sniper rifle she now held to her shoulder. She was steady enough to do what human snipers couldn't, able to hold the weapon and aim rather than needing to balance it on anything. She needed no scope either, able to use a simple notch on the barrel and her own extremely keen vision. Aido was sure she was deadly accurate. Any other time, he would have marveled a bit more at the way she had swiftly assembled the unusual weapon from pieces concealed _in her clothing_, but right now too much of his attention was fixed on the two figures trapped inside the coils of hunter charms below. He felt like his heart was in his throat.

Seiren may have felt the same, but she didn't show it. Her face was tight but free of hindering emotion. She knew the hard truth that her ability to protect her young lord in this situation was minimal. There were too many hunters and Kaname was pinned down, completely in the open. She dare not start anything, she could only stand by to respond if things turned ugly.

"Use the window, get inside and find cover," Seiren said quietly to Aido without shifting her gaze from the scene below. If things went south she could expect to draw heavy fire from below and she could not protect him out here.

"No way in hell," Aido murmured and she felt the air chill behind her, indicating that he was drawing on his powers.

Seiren didn't argue. The faintest ghost of a smile touched her lips. Weakened though he was, she hadn't really expected him to run. There was steel behind that frivolous exterior, and they shared a common goal.

The odds were better with two of them, but unfortunately not by enough. Sheer logistics were against them. If the situation got ugly, there was no way they could kill everyone in the courtyard fast enough. She estimated she could take out at least half the hunters in about two seconds, then the odds became much harder to calculate. For one thing, the hunters would now be aware of her presence and for another, if the four vampires in the courtyard were not killed before they could react then Takuma, Shiki, Kain and Ruka would also be in on the fight.

The hunters would all die, but they wouldn't go easy. There would be heavy casualties on both sides. She and Aido were likely to be killed, but they were even more likely to lose some or all of the nobles on the ground since they were closer to the hunters. Such a massacre would also almost certainly trigger the next hunter and vampire war. All that collateral damage was highly undesirable, but acceptable to her. The real problem with the scenario was that the probability of least one of the hunters having time to kill Kaname before she could take them down was well over 90%, and that was much too high to take the risk unless there was no other choice.

For now, all she and Aido could do was wait and watch and see what happened. Ultimately, she knew they had little chance of saving Kaname if things went badly, but should that happen then she would be very, _very_ sure that none of the hunters walked out of here alive either.

* * *

Zero wavered slightly on his knees, one arm curled around his burning side. His other hand shot out and caught Kaname's pale wrist. The pureblood's body trembled softly under his hand and there was no strength, no resistance in it. If he tugged, Kaname would have fallen right over. "Liar," he murmured through grit teeth around the pain of his insides. He could see in the pureblood's eyes that he was only hanging on by a thread. He was nothing _close _to fine.

"I didn't say I _was _all right," Kaname grit out softly through his teeth, knowing there was no point in prevarication. "What's important is that I _will be_ all right," he insisted, desperate to get Zero going before the darkness pulling at him took hold. He knew Zero wouldn't leave him alone in here if he were unconscious, bless him. "I'm sure they'll have a suitable conveyance here shortly. This is all temporary. It's not a big deal, just go." He was keeping his voice low so the conversation remained private.

Zero knew otherwise. It _was _a big deal to walk away and leave Kaname to face this alone in his condition. Kaname hid it well, but he was afraid of his own vulnerability, Zero _knew _that about him. After everything that had happened with Nasser, Zero finally understood at least part of the reason behind that fear and his lover's almost pathological need to dominate the outcome of any given situation. Any time Kaname had been vulnerable or not in control of events in his early life, he had ended up hurt - sometimes hideously so.

Zero would be damned if he let that dynamic continue to hold true. No one could be all powerful all the time. Kaname deserved to have someone to watch out for him on those rare occasions when he couldn't do it himself. The proud pureblood may not think he needed or wanted that, but tough. Zero would have his back whether he liked it or not.

"Zero? Can you stand? Come on out," Yagari urged, trying to hide the fact that he wanted to get him out of there as much as Kaname did. It sounded like he was prepared to go in and get Zero if the boy couldn't make it on his own.

Zero staggered to his feet to show he was all right, but instead of going out, he dropped to his knees behind Kaname and wrapped his arms around him from behind. He rested his chin on Kaname's shoulder, feeling the slender body shuddering against him. Kaname tried to resist as if sensing Zero's intentions, but instead his body slackened, unable to support itself any longer. His light frame slipped back against Zero's chest, resting against him in a way that Kaname obviously didn't want, but couldn't fight. The pureblood's skin was clammy and extraordinarily pale.

"Zero, don't..." Kaname whispered, but his hoarse voice lacked the strength to argue in the same way his body lacked the strength to support itself. Zero knew how badly Kaname was really doing, despite his previous veneer of control. Yes, the pureblood _would _be all right, his wounds were no longer mortal, but they were still serious. With or without the circle around them, Kaname was helpless right now. Kaname passionately _hated _being helpless. How could he expect Zero to abandon him in this state?

"I'm okay, Sensei," he declared, trying to clear some of the hoarseness from his tense throat. He was in a lot of pain, but his wounds weren't going to kill him _that _quick. Nothing on earth was going to make him leave Kaname's side when the pureblood was so weak. He trusted Yagari, and he would have entrusted Kaname into his custody _maybe_, but not the other hunters. Not alone. In his current state there were too many ways they could hurt and humiliate Kaname without even really intending to be malicious. Once Kaname was in a holding cell at HQ, he would probably be all right, but it was the trip there that worried Zero. This whole situation was bound to make the hunters unhappy and he knew how prisoners could be treated by edgy guards after a bad hunt. It was frightening. Kaname had lost part of his heart, what if somebody thought it was a bright idea to seal him? He could _die. _

"You're hurt. There's nothing that you staying here can accomplish. _Please, _Zero," Kaname protested softly. "...I need to know you're safe," he admitted.

"Will you chill? I'm better off than you are and I'm not going to keel over and die this minute," Zero murmured against Kaname's ear, supporting the other's body resolutely, despite the way his own was throbbing. "What you're _really_ afraid of is that if I stay, they'll take me in with you, right?" he guessed astutely. "Well forget it," he said firmly. "I understand why it has to play out like this, but there's no way in hell I'm letting them take you in alone."

Kaname knew he needed to protest, but he was so tired and in so much pain and the truth was that Zero's words made him feel very warm. It was selfish, but it was true that he didn't want to be alone. There was some despicable part of him that was scared of being under the power of others when he was so vulnerable. It was shameful, of course, but it was there. He swallowed with difficulty.

"You _can't_. Don't link yourself to me right now, Zero, it will pull you down. I can prove Nasser's ill intentions, I can ultimately walk in and out of this, but if they arrest _you_..." Kaname struggled to finish the thought, but finally just let it hang meaningfully, his mind and tongue no longer fully cooperating with him. Zero would know what he meant. It could do irreparable damage to Zero's career to be taken in for questioning as a vampire in this matter, it would change the way people looked at him. Kaname was desperate to avoid that.

Zero would not have thought such a consideration any kind of deterrent under the current circumstances. Important as his life as a hunter was to him, his career took a second place to Kaname's safety. However, him being simply another prisoner wouldn't do much to allow him to keep his lover safe. He had a different idea in mind completely.

"Who the hell said anything about getting arrested?" he managed a small smirk, breathing deeply as he struggled to gather himself for the effort ahead. "I'm the one arresting _you, _idiot," he murmured. "You're _my_ prisoner now, and anyone who knows me knows that means I'm not going to let you out of my sight for a moment until I get you safely to HQ." He pressed the side of his head gently against Kaname's, as close to a caress as was prudent at the moment with so many eyes on them.

"Zero?" Yagari's voice questioned. "You don't look good, kid. Come on out and get yourself checked out. We've _got_ this."

Zero could tell Yagari was trying as best he was able under the circumstance to tell him that it was okay and the older hunter would watch out for Kaname. Yagari obviously had the same thoughts about getting him out of there that his lover had. Zero appreciated it, but he couldn't entrust Kaname to anyone else, not in his condition... not after everything that had just happened.

Zero lifted his head to meet Yagari's gaze through the red-tinged air. "Sensei, you're not trying to take my prize, are you? Come on, you have to admit I'm _first on scene_ here," he said with a tired, but cocky grin. Several eyebrows raised and a few people, including Yagari, actually smiled at the sheer balls the battered young hunter was displaying. "First on scene" was common hunter parlance and it meant Zero was claiming the right of being the first hunter either on the scene or involved in the fight. In bounty situations, it was usually the first on the scene who had the right to final custody of the prisoner. Kuran was obviously not a typical bounty and he wasn't technically even being arrested, just taken into custody for questioning. Still, there was no denying that bringing in a pureblood for any reason could be considered an unusual achievement.

"I was in the skirmish first, _and _I have physical custody," Zero wrapped his arms around Kaname's shoulders a little more fully to emphasis his point. "Kuran's _my_ prize and _I'll_ be transporting him to HQ. I'll be fine, Sensei."

Yagari shook his head. He knew the real game his apprentice was playing. It both amused and frustrated him, but Zero would be Zero, he supposed. "You're a real brat, you know that, right?" he groused. "Nobody's trying to take your damn prize, you can have him. Just don't get yourself killed, all right?"

"Sure, whatever," Zero retorted, all but rolling his eyes. The banter between teacher and student lent a subtle normalcy to the tense situation and seemed to be setting the other hunters a little more at ease.

Zero could feel the way Kaname's chest was struggling to rise and fall under his arms. He realized what the charms about them were doing to his lover's wounded body and his jaw set. He shifted around until he was kneeling in front of Kaname, keeping a supportive hand on the pureblood's shoulder to keep him sitting upright. Kaname wavered dangerously, but managed to stay up for the moment. "How much do you trust me, Kaname?" he murmured softly.

Kaname blinked up at him slowly, his eyes dilated and weary but completely trusting. "With my life," he murmured the answer Zero already knew. Zero gave him a soft smile, wishing he could kiss him.

"Then trust me that it will be okay and I won't let anyone hurt you, all right?" he whispered as he reached behind his back and somewhat clumsily tugged something free. His gun was still wedged in his waistband in front of his left hip where Kaname had put it, but that wasn't what he was after. His clothes were in a complete state of ruin, but his handcuffs had managed to come through the fight all right and were still clipped securely to the back of his belt where he usually wore them. Drawing them out he let Kaname see then, hesitating for a moment despite knowing what he needed to do.

Kaname simply smiled faintly and held his hands up in front of him as much as he was able. "Arrest me, Mr. Hunter..." he murmured with the faintest hint of suggestive innuendo.

Zero grinned despite himself. "God, you're half dead, Kaname, you really _are _hopeless." But in truth, he knew and appreciated the complete faith Kaname placed in him as the wounded pureblood let him snap the cuffs around his wrists, taking one more bit of control away from him.

Zero closed, but did not activate the charm on the cuffs. He wouldn't do that to Kaname in his condition and the others didn't need to know. After all, _he _was aware how perfectly unnecessary the cuffs were to begin with. Kaname wasn't going to cause any trouble. These were normal cuffs, not the ones the other hunters wanted to use on Kaname, but Zero was not about to let them got those powerful binds on the injured vampire, it would cause Kaname too much pain. No, they were going to do this _his _way.

Gathering himself, he struggled to his feet, pulling Kaname's all but dead weight up with him. He probably shouldn't have been able to have enough strength to be doing this after what had just happened, but he was still processing some benefit from Nasser's blood and Kaname must have pushed a decent chunk of energy into him just now as well, saving almost nothing for himself, the beloved _moron_.

With a bit of effort, Zero pulled a bound Kaname up into his arms properly, holding him carefully in front of him, one hand under his knees, the other supporting Kaname's back. The pureblood rested his head against Zero's chest. He wasn't sure what the young hunter was up to, but he was too drained to do more than simply trust to whatever course of action Zero had decided to take. In the semi-conscious haze starting to settle over him, it was a relief to have someone he could simply rely upon. Zero's assurances were sweet, and Kaname had known for a while that Zero would protect him if he needed to, but almost more importantly, Kaname knew he could rely on Zero for good plans and sound judgment as well.

It probably seemed harsh to say, but he hadn't always been so certain of that in the past. He hadn't always understood Zero and the hunter's logic and actions could seem to him unclear and unpredictable. Zero, however, had blossomed into quite an incredible young man in so many, many ways. Kaname had finally been able to see that clearly, especially in the past few weeks and he'd discovered that Zero's unpredictability could in fact be his biggest asset at times. Put quite frankly, Kaname knew he could trust that whatever Zero was doing would probably not end badly or get them both killed, even if he didn't know or understand the plan. That was a huge relinquishment of control for the pureblood and perhaps bespoke his trust more eloquently than anything else could have.

"Zero? What are you doing?" Yagari inquired carefully, his tone suggesting that he already had a good idea and was not pleased.

Zero met his gaze evenly through the pinkish-red glow of the circles about them. "What does it look like? I'm bringing my prisoner out," he said matter-of-factly, nodding down towards the cuffed pureblood in his arms. "It's fricking suffocating in here, you know."

Kaname was on the verge of passing out and Zero wanted to get him out of here. He was weary and hurting and once again pushing himself harder than he should have after what had just happened, but all of that just made him pissed off and his irritation fed his resolve. He could crash later, right now, nobody was going to stop him.

"Yeah, I bet, but maybe we better wait on that," Yagari said slowly, gauging the rising levels of tenseness in the other hunters.

Zero smiled wryly, giving the other hunters a challenging look as if silently weighing their valor and finding it lacking. "Oh come on, _look _at him. He just did 15 rounds with a freaking pureblood Methuselah. Don't tell me you're all _scared _of one barely conscious vampire."

So saying, Zero stepped out onto the first line of charms. The tattoo on his neck throbbed as it reacted to the spells. He felt the buzz of them travel through him, making the hairs rise on his skin and his muscles tighten, but they didn't hurt him. They wouldn't hurt Kaname either, so long as Zero was holding him. There were only two ways an untamed vampire could pass through a hunter barrier. They had to either be in activated chains, which Kaname was not, or they had to be carried by a hunter.

Several hunters raised their weapons warily and Zero just fixed them with a withering look. "Don't be a bunch of sissy dicks. He's my prisoner, I'll take responsibility for him. You think I can't handle him in his condition?" He had a firm, commanding look in his eyes that he had never used with his fellow hunters before. _They _didn't need to know that he himself was barely staying on his feet. He'd learned well from Kaname that sometimes the pretense of strength and control was all you really needed.

"I _said, _I'm bringing him out, Sensei," he said a bit more respectfully, turning his gaze back to his master and intentionally speaking to Yagari as if he were the only person here that _mattered. _"He's in mycustody. He'll not be a threat to anyone." His gaze seemed to dare any of them to suggest that after what they'd seen him do, he wasn't perfectly capable of making sure that one injured vampire who had already agreed to come peaceably wouldn't turn on them or run off.

If there was one thing that hit the proud hunters were it hurt, it was being made to look like they were afraid of their prey, even in instances where that was a justly warranted reaction. Zero's attitude and words painted their reactions to Kaname as comparable to someone jumping onto a chair and shrieking over the sight of a mouse, which was a good way to make them all take a step back and try to not look quite so alarmed.

Zero lifted his chin and continued forward, treading deliberately across the charms as he carried Kaname out of the circle and back into the free air.

No one tried to stop him. It was more than just a fear of being shamed by overreaction. The hunters were no fools; they knew that even a vampire that appeared half dead could be mortally dangerous. However, there was something about Zero in this moment that made them hesitate to cross him, even if it was simply that they had all just seen what he was capable of and were still attempting to process what that meant.

It was interesting to watch the change in them towards Zero. They should have perhaps had more reason than ever to fear and mistrust him after his display of power. Some no doubt certainly did... but hunters had sprung from vampires and in their blood they held the same reverence towards power as those they hunted. Political power and influence within the hunters had always been determined by physical power and skill. They respected those who could enforce their wills, those who were strong. Zero had just eloquently proved how very, very strong he was. He had contained the power of two battling purebloods and had likely been involved in the death of one of them. Vampire or no, he was suddenly a hunter to be reckoned with. The authoritative tone Zero was taking now, so unlike what they were used to from him, seemed to emphasize that change. The others responded to it, even if unconsciously.

The four vampires in the courtyard knew better than to cause any ripples by drawing attention to themselves. They stayed where they were, but Takuma shot Zero a grin, obviously having enjoyed what he'd just seen.

Kaname couldn't help smiling slightly as well as he rested against the young hunter, his body feeling blessedly lighter and his pain easing a little now that they were free of the circle. The look on Zero's face just now had been priceless. He might as well have been staring down a bunch of annoying Day Class girls back when they were in school, warning them that if they didn't back the hell off, he was going to make them cry. Zero had never shown that kind of confidence or command around his fellow hunters before. It had always been painfully clear that he felt inadequate around them, despite his vast talents. Not at this moment, though. Kaname felt like he was in some way seeing Zero begin to come into his own and despite the crappy circumstances, it was a lovely sight.

* * *

Seiren lowered her weapon when she saw Kiriyu carry Kaname out of the circle. The pair wasn't entirely out of danger, but given that the hunters had just allowed that, the chances of them being killed out of hand had shrunk down into more negligible figures. Aido also seemed to sense that the crisis had passed and he relaxed a bit behind her, a small smile on his face.

* * *

Kaname was unconscious by the time the hunter paddy wagons arrived a few minutes later. Zero's body was starting to shake with fatigue, but he hid that from the others and carried Kaname silently across the courtyard to the street, bearing his precious burden up into the wagon and remaining with him as the barred door was slammed shut and the car drove away.

_._

_._

_._

_A/N (continued): So… is Nasser really dead? Maybe. ;) Originally, I did not intend to kill him in this story because I have some ideas for future stories which involved him. He was always going to die more or less exactly like this eventually, but not for a while yet. However, since my muse has up and fled on me it's highly likely that I won't get around to writing the rest of the ridiculously involved and complicated ideas I have. Because I absolutely HATE it when stories leave you hanging, or TV shows go off the air leaving all kinds of ends dangling, I decided to accelerate things and change the ending of this story so that everyone could have closure on the whole Nasser issue. I did leave myself a small bit of leeway to bring him back should I suddenly be overwhelmed with inspiration and want to go ahead and try writing the other stories, but for all intents and purposes as far as I'm concerned right now, he's dead, so we can all be happy about that. :)_

_This story is not over yet however. There are a few very important questions to answer yet regarding what happened in An'swala and the nature of the virus and why Nasser __**really **__infected Yuki with it (yes, he kind of lied, big shock there). Naturally, we also need to get Kaname and Zero out of their current predicament and find out what's going to happen with dear Aido as well. So this story probably still has at least two, maybe three more chapters to go. _

_Thank you all for sticking with me through the long and sometimes incredibly slow ride and thank you all for the wonderful and amazing reviews that feed my soul and keep my fingers moving across the keys. ;) _


	37. Surviving the Fallout

_A/N: Sorry for the incredibly long delay, and thank you all for the reviews! Some sneaky, rebel lemons slid in towards the end of this chapter in protest of how little we've seen of their brethren lately. ;) As a result I didn't cover quite as much ground as I intended in this chapter and we won't get our final revelations of truth behind the whole An'swala mess until next chapter. Sorry, but, hopefully no one will mind a little extra citrus. :)_

_Btw, I agree with everyone who would have liked to see Nasser realize about the true depth of Kaname and Zero's relationship before the end, it would have been satisfying indeed. I was tempted to write it that way, but it didn't feel right because I truly don't think he really __**could **__understand. The pity of it for him was that real love was not a sentiment he could accept or grasp. He had de-constructed emotions and feelings down to their base biological elements and used them to manipulate and control others for so long that I don't think he was capable of believing that there could be more to it than that it didn't feel right to write him otherwise. *shrugs* _

_Hmm, there was something else I meant to say here, but I have forgotten. Total mind fail. Oh well, instead I'll just apologize for all the inevitable typos and errors from lack-luster proofing on my part and thank you all for your awesomely kind support and patience as I struggle along to get this story finished while my Muse parties somewhere in foreign climes without me. :P_

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Seven: "Surviving the Fallout" **

"Holy crap, Zero..." Yagari muttered, his dark head bent over his task. Tanned, callused hands applied sterile white field dressings to the worst of his student's wounds with a quick, skilled efficiency that spoke of much practice.

Freshly showered, Zero had changed into a pair of sweatpants from his locker. Barefoot and shirtless, he sat on the edge of one of the interrogation tables so Yagari could more easily tend to the worst of his injuries.

The young hunter fidgeted impatiently, looking over his teacher's shoulder towards the doorway. If he _wanted_ to get treated, he could have gone to the clinic. The medical facility here at Hunter HQ was top notch, but Zero had no intention of going there. There would be too many questions, too many tests they'd want to run. They would want him to stay there, which was out of the question. It was true he felt like crap, but he didn't have time to waste on things like that. He could sense somehow that given a little time, he would heal on his own, even from something like this. He was already strong from his blood relationship with Kaname and feeding from Nasser had increased that strength further, heightening the level of vampire within him.

Zero was changing and he knew it. After what he had been able to do today he could no longer pretend otherwise, even to himself. Nasser's blood was merely magnifying and hastening a process that had already been in motion. His powers had been evolving slowly for a long time now. Every step down that path took him further and further away from the traditional bounds of humanity. It was a one-way process that he knew he could never reverse. It should have scared him, or at least worried him more. These were serious issues, but right now, he _seriously_ didn't care. Something much more important held his attention and concern.

Zero winced, shifting more from impatience than from the pain as Yagari finished bandaging his side and wiped his lacerated back down with disinfectant. He scooted an inch towards the end of the table. "Are we good? I need to..."

Yagari pushed him back onto the table brusquely, his look both irritated and amused. "You need to chill the hell out and be still for two minutes so I can finish this," he drawled. The elder hunter had snagged his apprentice on his way into the holding cells and dragged him to one of the interrogation rooms for a quick little patch up, but Zero was acting about as compliant as a hyper five year old.

"But I don't need-"

Yagari shook his head, cutting off his apprentice's protest as he quickly applied a coat of liquid bandage to what looked like claw marks slashed across his student's pale back. "I get that you're going to be okay, but we can't have you running around bleeding all over the place. Kuran looks like shit; there is no way I'm letting you back in that cell with him while you're covered in blood like some freaking vampire catnip."

Zero rolled his eyes. "Kaname's not going to hurt me."

"Humor me," Yagari growled, slapping on another coat of bandage. Zero's leg was jittering impatiently, rocking the young hunter's body and making it harder to cover his wounds. The boy was pretty messed up and touching these injuries _should _be hurting badly, but Zero didn't seem to even notice what his teacher was doing. Yagari cast a glance towards Zero's bare feet, wet hair and the way he could barely stay on the table edge. He knew the boy was worried about Kaname, but that wasn't all that was going on here. "Just relax, will you? Geez, you're high. What the hell have you been drinking?"

Zero had the grace to look slightly abashed at this when he realized Yagari was right. He was exhausted, yet at the same time he was also hyper alert and jumpy, as if he'd had way too much caffeine. He wasn't feeling the pain of his injuries like he should. This strange feeling of invincible euphoria reminded him of the first time he'd had Kaname's blood, which told him _why_ he was feeling this way. He wasn't going to tell Yagari about drinking from Nasser, but he made a distinct effort to scale back on the unconscious nervous energy he was exuding.

"Sorry," he muttered. "But I _do_ need to go," he added a little more reasonably, running a hand through his hair and realizing it was still fairly wet. _Sheesh_, hadn't he dried it properly after his shower? He didn't remember. Apparently not. His exhausted body really was behaving as if he were drunk or high. He was overlooking mundane bits of normalcy and losing chunks of time in his memory.

Frowning, Zero tried to make sure wasn't forgetting anything important. He remembered arriving at the Association. He remembered the mild fuss kicked up when he refused immediate treatment in favor of getting his prisoner settled. He remembered insisting that he and Yagari were the ones charged with changing an unconscious Kaname out of his torn, bloodstained clothes and washing him down. He remembered his unmovable determination that no unfamiliar hands would undress or touch his lover's naked body while Kaname was helpless, and his gratitude that Yagari had unexpectedly backed him up. He remembered how seriously, frighteningly torn up his lover was underneath the blood and the grime. He remembered laying Kaname down in one of the cells and going to take his own shower. He remembered coming back to the holding cells and getting hijacked by Yagari.

Okay, it didn't seem as if he had lost anything significant, just some minor details like forgetting to dry his hair or - he glanced down at his feet with a frown - or putting shoes on, it would seem. _Whatever. Not important._

Zero caught Yagari's gaze. "I don't want him to wake up in that cell alone," he murmured earnestly.

Yagari hesitated, then nodded slowly. He understood. He was about to say something when Zero's head jerked up, a pained look crossing the boy's features. Zero quickly pushed off the table to his feet, batting away Yagari's hands this time. "Shit, too late," the young hunter's lavender eyes were slightly unfocused as if he were sensing or listening to something far away.

Ignoring his teacher, Zero hurried from the room, his feet moving faster and faster as waves of Kaname's confused distress rolled over him.

* * *

_Pain. Weakness. The incessant buzz of hunter charms weighing on him like a hand pressing ruthlessly down on his chest. His body and his senses were raw, leaden and unresponsive. _As he started drifting towards consciousness, Kaname didn't know where he was... or _when. _His whole body hurt and he couldn't move. His eyes were still closed, but other senses told him he was in a small stone room. It felt like a cell of some kind. A _hunter-made _cell. The dreadful, familiar buzz of charms resonating within his raw nerves told him that. In his current state of disorientation, the sensation confused him and yanked him back to his childhood. For a few terrible moments he thought he was back in the basement prison in the Ichijo house after a particularly bad beating and panic rose unbidden within him.

The soft sound of a door opening heightened his alarm. He was alone. He couldn't move, couldn't defend himself, couldn't even get his eyes open! The helplessness was suffocating.

He tried to brace himself, but the abuse he feared was not forthcoming. No hand was raised to harm him. No cruel voice taunted his weakness. The fingers that stroked his damp hair back from his fevered brow were cool and gentle. The arms that carefully embraced and cradled him were loving. The scent surrounding him was familiar and the voice that murmured calming assurances into his hair was the one he treasured most in the world.

Kaname still didn't know where he was, but he relaxed in Zero's arms, the tension and fear draining away and leaving behind contented peace. Zero's presence seemed to create a protective bubble around him and the pain of the enclosing charms lessened considerably. His injuries were severe and reality was slow to return to the pureblood, but that was not necessarily a bad thing. In some strange way, having Zero come for him when he was reliving the nightmares of his past was both soothing and healing. It was, for a brief moment, as if Zero had stepped through time with him; the earnest intensity of the hunter's love extending back to ease away the terrible memories of past loneliness and isolation as surely as the same love filled Kaname's heart and completed him in the present. It didn't really make sense, and it wasn't something Kaname would ever have been able to explain, but it was deeply comforting to him nonetheless.

"It's okay, Kaname," Zero murmured against his hair, feeling calmer himself now that he was holding his love close and could feel the reassuring warmth of his body. Kaname's presence eased his jitteriness. "I'm here," he promised quietly. "Everything's okay."

Kaname smiled and rested comfortably against him, not caring where they were so long as that was true. He knew there was much to be done. He knew he needed to face the hunters and present the whole story of events to them in a way that would get him clear of this situation. He would need to make deals and concessions... but that was an exhausting prospect and he couldn't think about it now. Right now, he was just going to enjoy this moment with Zero, and that was enough.

* * *

Their peace was disturbed sooner than Kaname's injured body would have liked. He had been drifting in and out of wakefulness for some time and he got the impression that hours had probably passed. His body craved the healing properties of a more complete slumber, but he dare not let himself rest that deeply. In his current state it was all too likely that he might lapse into hibernation. If that happened it would be virtually impossible to awaken him for several days at the least. As appealing as that sounded, it would leave Zero in a bad spot. The young hunter would be the only one who could answer questions, the only one to face the fallout of their actions. Kaname couldn't let that happen, so he did not let himself sleep too deeply. Not yet. He needed to get matters settled first, then he could afford to rest and heal.

The murmur of voices had come and gone several times before now, but there was something in the tone of the voice now that told the pureblood he needed to start pulling himself together.

"Zero, it's time," Yagari's voice from the other side of the bars was quiet, but it also indicated that there was no use arguing. "They're coming. Get him up before they do," he warned.

Kaname slowly became aware that he was lying on a prison cot which was set length-wise into one wall of a small cell. His head was pillowed on Zero's lap and his cheek had molded to the weave of Zero's pants from resting on it so long. The hunter was sitting at the head of the bed, his back against the wall and his arm draped protectively over his lover's shoulders.

Kaname wasn't the only one who had been dozing and it took Zero a moment to process and react to his Sensei's words. He shifted, rubbing his eyes and trying to force his foggy mind to alertness. He'd been holding Kaname for hours; his neck was stiff from dozing while sitting up, his legs and arms numb from having been in the same position so long. His side throbbed stiffly. It still hurt less than he felt it should, but it definitely hurt more than it had earlier. _Damn. _

As he finally grasped what Yagari had said, he bit back a protest he knew was useless. His mentor would have bought them as much time as he could, it was out of Yagari's hands now. The advanced warning meant that at least he could try to give Kaname a few moments to get himself together mentally before the inquisitors came for him. Zero was fully aware that a favorite and rather effective tactic for keeping suspects off balance was to show up while they were sleeping, startle them awake and drag them off for questioning before they were fully alert. Ordinarily, Zero didn't think that of that as particularly cruel, he'd done it himself a few times, but everything changed when it applied to someone you loved. Especially when that someone was in such raw shape.

"Kaname?" he murmured, knowing the pureblood was already waking up.

Kaname nodded slowly, dragging himself upright on the bed with effort and blinking slowly to clear the cobwebs from his head. "I heard," he returned, frowning at the hoarse timber of his own voice and clearing his throat several times to get it smooth again.

Passing a hand over his face, Kaname swung his feet over the side of the bed. He gripped the edge of the cot with both hands, gathering himself. Everything hurt and his body screamed for rest. It didn't understand why he was forcing himself to move and to remain alert when all it wanted was to seek the unconscious, healing state it knew it needed. _Not yet, _he told himself firmly. _Not yet. _

Breathing deeply, he struggled to pull his composure together while intentionally putting some distance between he and Zero. The other hunters had to be aware that Zero had stayed with him, but he didn't want them to find Zero holding him or acting concerned. Zero had protected and cared for him. He had been here for Kaname when he needed him. The hunter had come through for him in every possible way and never once thought of himself. Zero _wouldn't _think of himself in this situation, so Kaname needed to do it for him. He wouldn't let Zero suffer as a result of his caring heart.

"The coming situation may or may not go smoothly. Whatever happens, let them do what they need to do, Zero," he said quietly. "Don't interfere. Don't try to protect me. It will compromise your position."

Zero snorted derisively to show how much he cared about that. "Do me a favor, don't tell me what to do."

Kaname shot him as hard a look as he could muster. "I'm serious, Zero. You're no good to me or yourself if they brand you a sympathizer."

Zero was starting to look increasingly uneasy. He was no idiot, but he obviously hadn't put too much thought into the many possible directions Kaname's interrogation could take. He was just as obviously having all kinds of thoughts about it _now _that he would rather not entertain.

"Don't be a drama queen," Zero retorted, rubbing a kink out of his stiff neck and trying to clear the remnants of sleep from his own mind. "Nothing's going to happen. They know Nasser was an asshole. He bugged the Association and turned hunters into ex-humans for God's sake. We'll just tell them what happened, they'll check it out and everything will be okay." He clearly _wanted _to believe that.

Kaname and Yagari exchanged glances. The two of them apparently had a slightly more jaded view of what lay ahead.

"Perhaps," Kaname allowed. "Ultimately, I believe that will be the outcome. But we need to be prepared for contingencies. This inquisition needs to be about _me, _I don't want them thinking about you at all. Once the facts come out and it's proven that Nasser is to blame, they cannot legally take any actions against me without wading through a sea of vampire politics. I am not theirs, their internal laws do not govern me. _You are._ They know now, the power inside you. I will not have them doubting your loyalties. I will _not _have them thinking of you as a threat. They need to feel confident that you are on their side. We just need to get through this. Remember that no matter what happens, I'll ultimately be fine. _Don't _do anything stupid." Kaname's gaze was intense. The pureblood was obviously struggling for clarity around the ragged edges of pain and exhaustion still clinging to him, but there was nothing wrong with his mental acuity. As always, he was rising to meet the situation with a will.

The way the hunters had dealt with the revelation of Zero's power earlier was encouraging, but this was still a very tricky and uncertain stage for them. At this moment Kaname was in no position to protect Zero if the Association turned on him and decided he was too big a risk to keep around. Kaname didn't think they would be too quick to jump to so drastic a conclusion _unless_ they felt Zero's allegiance was in doubt. He had a notion that Zero's revelation of strength had the potential to increase his standing with the hunters much more than it would damage it... but only if they were sure he intended to use that power for _them_. If Zero tried to defend him they would not see the young man's protectiveness as one lover concerned over another, they would see it as an ex-human protecting a pureblood, and that was _not _a perception that could be allowed.

Kaname felt himself riding to a dangerous edge as he considered this threat to his lover and he forced himself back from it, breathing as deeply as his damaged chest allowed. He wasn't looking forward to what lay ahead, but he could get through it. He told himself that firmly... but he knew it wasn't entirely true. The one thing he could not deal with right now was this fear about Zero. It undid all his control and resolve much too easily.

Kaname did not suppose that his own life was in danger any longer. If the hunters had intended to kill him their best chance would have been to do it earlier under the cover of the chaos. If he died now, in their custody, his followers would revolt and there would be an epic mess for the hunters to clean up. He held onto a reasonable confidence that he would eventually walk out of this place, but he also didn't think the questioning would go as easily as Zero hoped. He was prepared for that, but he needed his lover be smart about his reactions and not go off like a firecracker if the interrogators started applying pressure.

Zero glared at him, obviously feeling uneasy, conflicted and stubborn. Kaname knew at a glance that Zero was prepared to rain hell on anyone who laid a finger on his lover. He appreciated that deeply, but the results would be disastrous for many reasons.

Kaname could hear footsteps in the distance on the dungeon stairs. They were out of time. He refused to let the apprehension stirring in his stomach express itself through his features. He tried not to even feel it since Zero seemed to be especially attuned to what was going on inside him right now. He turned his solid gaze upon Yagari.

"You understand what I'm saying." It was a statement of fact. He knew Yagari understood where he was coming from, whether Zero did or not. Yagari was more like him in some ways. They shared a sense of pragmatism that let the ends justify the means. "If you think he can't take it, do whatever you need to do to get him away and keep him away."

Zero's eyes snapped fire. "Don't talk about me like I'm not in the room or like I need a fucking babysitter," he said heatedly, anger surging much too easily through his raw, exhausted emotional state. "Are you _trying _to piss me off?"

Zero was still hyped up from Nasser's blood. Yet at the same time he was also physically and emotionally drained from the battle and the responsibility of caring for his wounded lover all this time. Kaname feared that his emotions were running high and his common sense running low.

"Maybe," Kaname admitted quietly in a rare bout of complete honesty. "If that will make it easier for you. I love you, and I'm a selfish man, Zero. I will do whatever I need to do to be sure you don't get pulled down in this mess I've created, whether you like it or not."

The answer seemed to take Zero a little by surprise. He'd come to realize over time that Kaname often provoked and subtly manipulated him to get him around to where he wanted him, but this was probably the first time the pureblood had been so honest and forthright about what he was doing. Oddly, that fact cooled Zero's irritation rather than feeding it. Ever since Kaname had trusted Zero with the pain of his past it felt like the pureblood was being more open with him about everything. This whole ordeal seemed to be changing them both, and not necessarily in bad ways.

Yagari and Zero could hear the footsteps now too. Yagari pushed a heavy set of body cuffs through the bars to Zero, giving the two of them a reason to be here. Zero accepted with stoic reluctance.

"Well, I'm selfish too," the young hunter said quietly as he knelt in front of Kaname, snapping the heavy cuffs shut around his lover's wrists and untangling the other trailing chains that made up the ensemble. The silver wrist cuffs connected to one another and to a broad leather belt. More chains led down to a similar arrangement for the ankle cuffs. It was overkill for Kaname in his current condition, but it was protocol.

Zero leaned forward, buckling the belt snuggly around Kaname's waist and unintentionally inhaling the warm scent of his lover's body and the blood that still seeped into the many bandages hidden beneath Kaname's clothing. He looked up as he fastened the ankle cuffs on his unresisting prisoner. "We've been through enough, this isn't fair. I brought you here, this is my responsibility. I won't stand by if they start hurting you. Do you honestly think I could?" he whispered.

Kaname's hand ghosted lightly through Zero's hair. "Yes," he whispered. "I think you can. I think you are strong enough and smart enough to suffer through a temporarily unpleasant situation for the benefit of the long term good. I think you love me enough to do this for me, if you understand why I'm asking. So, I will be very honest with you, Zero. I am not well. My control is feeble." His hurried words dropped down to the barest whisper, for Zero's ears only. "What I am asking of you _is_ unfair and I'm sorry, but I need you to be strong in a way that I cannot be. I can get through anything they do to me, but if you try to interfere and they harm you - even if I just _fear _they _might _harm you... I cannot deal with that right now. I _will_ react. I will fight them. I will kill them." Kaname's eyes were flinty hard and Zero could see that behind his pale lips, the pureblood's fangs had run out. Kaname had been through too much in too short a time. He was still dealing with everything that had happened with Nasser and just _thinking _about Zero being in danger was having an obvious effect on him.

Zero saw the naked truth in Kaname's eyes. There was a wild, feral beauty lurking beneath the bruised skin and haggard features which heralded the fact that the possessive predator Kaname usually kept caged up and out of sight was riding just below the surface. Kaname almost always had impeccable control over his other nature, but now the pureblood was warning him that that control was frail. If confronted with a threat to his mate, Kaname's instincts would trip and he didn't think he could stop them, no matter how much his logical mind protested. If Kaname lost it here in HQ, it was all over. He probably could and would kill many, but he was weakened and surrounded by hunters and hundreds of years worth of binding wards. It would be a cataclysm that likely ended with all their deaths.

"I'm sorry, you've already done so much and I'm asking you to carry the brunt of my weakness _again_," Kaname whispered, his eyes fluttering closed in resigned self-mortification as he struggled to get himself calm again and retract his fangs before the others appeared. They would be here any minute. He would rather not have spelled out his reasons like this, but he believed what he had said earlier. He believed Zero could and would do this for him if the hunter understood why it was necessary. Strangely, he found he wasn't afraid of Zero despising him for needing help or for the obvious allusion to his vampire nature. He would have feared both once, but not now.

Zero's eyes stung as he looked down at the chains he'd just placed. If Kaname had been _trying_ to manipulate him, he couldn't have twisted Zero around to his point of view any more skillfully than this. But Kaname was obviously too worn to play games, he was simply laying out all his cards and asking Zero for help. _That _made it impossible for Zero to refuse him.

Kaname's hands rested in his lap. Zero squeezed them softly. "I keep telling you, there is nothing weak about you," he whispered. "I hate this. I really, _really, _hate this," his voice trembled slightly. "But I have your back," he promised. Zero realized that what he wished he could do and what Kaname truly needed from him right now were two different things. It _was _hard and unfair, but that wasn't Kaname's fault and he would support his lover in whatever way he was allowed. "I won't make trouble, but I won't leave. Whatever happens, you won't be alone," he promised. He hoped that they were all making much ado about nothing and there would be no need for this conversation to have taken place.

Then there were voices outside the cell and the time for talk was gone. "Activate them," Kaname murmured, barely moving his lips. His body tensed as he steeled himself.

Zero didn't want to, but he also knew he couldn't get away with not activating the restraints this time. There were symbols on the belt that lit up when the fetters were in use. If he didn't do it, someone else would. Hurting all the way down to his toes, he pressed a palm against one of the cuffs and mumbled the one-word activation charm.

Kaname curled forward, hissing through his teeth, hands curling into fists as the burning charge coursed through him. His damaged heart fluttered and made it hard for him to breathe, but after a moment he forced himself to uncurl and sit up straight, covering his pain with his usual mask of stony calm. He found himself looking through the bars at about six or seven other hunters, now standing with Yagari. They looked somewhat disgruntled that they hadn't been able to wake the prisoner, but the fact that they'd come upon them during the moment of activation and had seen the pureblood's pain seemed to mollify them a bit. As intended.

Zero rose stiffly to his feet, knowing what Kaname was doing, knowing what the other hunters were thinking, and hating every moment of this stupid, inevitable dance. "He's ready." He said flatly, letting the others read his tone any damn way they pleased. He was mad at the world in general right now and didn't care who knew. That was an attitude the other hunters were accustomed to from him and they didn't pay it much mind.

Yagari unlocked the cell door and Zero tried not to feel angry with him too. Yagari had done his best to help them. He had staved off the inevitable questioning for as long as he could without seeming suspicious by making the logical suggestion that the hunters completely process the scene of the incident before the interrogation. The reasoning went that if they could gain any insights on their own about what went down, then they would have leverage to know if Kaname lied to them.

That had bought Kaname precious hours to rest and recover, but the Association hierarchy could not be put off for long. They _wanted _to question the pureblood while he was still weak. Giving him time to recuperate was not in their best interests. They would have preferred to do it during daylight hours. Now, with night falling, they would wait no longer.

Zero could see what a struggle it was for Kaname to move smoothly when he rose off the bed. Zero could tell how hard he was working to not shuffle and how hard he was fighting the cold sweat gathering on his skin as he followed the guards out of the cell. But no one else could. Zero could tell because he could _feel _Kaname, other observers saw only a cool, bland faced vampire who was unnaturally pale but otherwise seemed to be as perfectly in control as ever.

Zero knew the other hunters. Three he knew only by sight, but the other four he'd worked with. Kio's master Haru was one of them. Zero liked Kio, but was not so fond of his Sensei. Haru was an excellent fighter, but he had a tendency to prove his toughness by pushing other people around. Like he was doing now.

Zero had to bite the inside of his cheek several times to keep from saying anything as Haru repeatedly shoved Kaname in the back while they were walking, as if the pureblood wasn't quite moving fast enough. Kaname stumbled, struggling with the motion-limiting chains but managing to never lose his footing completely. He was obviously in pain, but his jaw was set and he didn't let the irritating fly of a man get under his skin. Instead he grinned as if it was all rather amusing and Haru was behaving like a petulant little boy while he was the patient adult.

Zero was gratified to note that this attitude obviously annoyed Haru far more than any reprimand would have. Irritating the crap out of hunters seemed to be one of Kaname's inborn talents.

The powers that be were obviously aware of the potentially dicey situation of detaining a pureblood vampire and Kaname was not taken to the normal interrogation chambers. Instead, he was brought to a room usually used for meetings. The non-threatening effect of the room was marred slightly by the addition of an obviously non-standard chair made of dark metal and sporting restraints. Naturally, it was this chain into which Kaname was guided and the restraints were threaded through the chains he was already wearing, tethering him firmly to the seat.

Zero tensed when he saw that the chair was positioned in the center of a large charm which was engraved into the floor. Four hunters activated the charm after Kaname was seated, the dark lines lighting up and burning with a luminescent blue-white glow.

Kaname's body tightened, pain clearly coloring his features for a few long moments before he regained control. There was visible perspiration on the pureblood's brow now, but his eyes were clear and focused despite the pain.

The president entered the room, taking the seat directly across from Kaname. Everyone else took their positions as well. Most were seated around the president, while eight guards flanked the pureblood's chair. Zero stayed as one of the guards. Yagari, a senior hunter, was seated with the president's group, but his gaze strayed more often to Zero than the captive pureblood. He hoped Zero was going to be able to do this, or he really would do as Kaname asked and find a way to get him out of there.

The president nodded cordially to Kaname. "Kuran-sama, I regret that circumstances make our hospitality so lacking, but I trust you understand the need for caution," he said, nodding towards the charms and restraints with the same apologetic tone one might use for insisting that someone leave their weapon at the door. In a way, that was what they were doing. Vampires needed no weapons to be lethal.

Kaname inclined his head as if he were a visiting dignitary and not a prisoner. "Of course. I trust we will be able to clear this matter up swiftly."

The president's gaze shifted to Kaname's right. "Kiriyu, I understand you were injured in the fighting earlier. Your presence is required, but you may take a seat, if you wish."

Zero noticed that the president's gaze had flickered to Yagari before he spoke, and he had little doubt who it was that had been sure to mention that the young hunter was in fact walking wounded. He knew Yagari was looking out for him, but something in him did not particularly like being seen as vulnerable right now. He supposed he had been around Kaname too long, he was absorbing some of his mentality, or maybe it was simply the effect of time and experience. He was glad that Kaito had brought him a fresh change of clothes earlier. Aside from the dark bruises and cuts on face, the rest of his injuries were hidden beneath a clean white shirt and he felt more in control than if the others could see his bandages. "Thank you, but that's unnecessary, I'm fine here," he said neutrally.

The president nodded and the proceedings moved on.

Kaname told his story, then Zero was called upon to tell his version of events. Afterwards, Yagari corroborated the parts he knew about, chiefly focusing on the hunters Nasser had turned and the way he had infiltrated their HQ. There were things they all avoided. Some events needed to be changed or glossed over, but fortunately all three of them were smart enough to know where those areas lay and not let their stories conflict. Afterwards there were other witnesses, more testimony, more discussion. They asked Kaname to tell the story again. He did. Then there were still more people to hear from and more discussion.

At first, Zero thought that this wasn't really going to be as bad as they'd feared. No one seemed interested in doing anything to Kaname other than asking him questions. But as hours dragged by, Zero began to understand the larger, more devious plan at work and why the president had offered him a seat in the beginning.

They were intentionally letting time pass, keeping Kaname where he was and letting the charms work on his injured body. Kaname's eyes were starting to glaze and his breathing was shallow. Pinned under the effects of his bindings, the chair and the powerful seal on the floor, the pureblood was in increasingly excruciating pain.

The Association was being smart. They didn't want to leave themselves open to allegations that they had mistreated a pureblood. However, they were perfectly within their rights to make sure that he was adequately restrained for their own safety, especially given the potential charges against him. In Kaname's condition, all they had to do was keep him in the center of these powerful charms and it would be as effective as any torture, without anyone needing to lay a finger on him.

Zero was both disturbed and agitated as the smell of blood grew stronger, indicating that Kaname was bleeding freely into the bandages beneath his clothes under the stress of the charms. He struggled not to react, either with anger or hunger.

The fifth time they asked Kaname to repeat some part of his story, Zero finally began to understand the plan. They were going to keep doing this, keep asking him the same things over and over as the pain intensified and wore down his defenses. They were looking for a slip, an inconsistency, some lapse brought on by his physical distress that they could use.

Zero's fists curled at his sides in impotent rage. Well, if that was their plan, they were shit out of luck. They didn't know Kaname and had completely misjudged him if they thought they could trip him up or catch him in a lie no matter how much pain they put him through. Kaname was far too good for that.

Zero was tired and hurting pretty badly himself by now, but anger and defiance kept him on his feet. It was only his promise to Kaname, however, that kept him from telling them all to go fuck themselves when he was _yet again_ called upon to re-tell some part of his story. He realized that Kaname may not be the only one they were trying to wear down. They may very well be using the same tactic with him. With that in mind he was especially careful with his answers, no matter how many times they were required.

He was increasingly worried about Kaname. After nearly five hours of fighting the agony the pureblood was showing obvious signs of his condition. That was something he would neverhave allowed that if he'd had any choice. Kaname was as collected and regally calm as ever when he spoke, but his shirt was soaked with perspiration and the patina of pain clouding his eyes left them increasingly unfocused. When Kaname had to stop four times in the middle of a sentence because he obviously couldn't breathe properly, it was all Zero could do not to rip out the chains, smash the chair into a million pieces and carry Kaname out of the room. He was pretty sure that fell under Kaname's list of "stupid things" that should be avoided.

Zero was seriously considering that option anyway, when a knock at the door to the room provided a welcome interruption to the relentless grilling. Kaito entered with another hunter.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we've got visitors. There's a group of vampires outside the gate who insist they need to be included in these proceedings," Kaito informed them.

The president waved his hand dismissively, annoyed by the intrusion. "We're not letting any of his supporters in here. That would not only be dangerous, it's against protocol. Tell them Kuran is here to help us of his own volition and that they need to respect his wishes and disperse."

"It's not his supporters," Kaito said with a dry look which indicated he wouldn't be bothering them if that was the only issue. "They've been hanging around outside since nightfall but they don't approach. This is a delegation from the north, and they're purebloods. Diachi Sato and his mother Diantha. They wish to report that Nasser Ardon was behind a recent attempt on Diachi Sato's life. They say they're here to back Kuran's allegations that Ardon was dangerously power hungry and on the verge of starting a war with the other purebloods in this area. Oh, and they're also kind of pissed that he used our hunters to off a number of highly placed people in their syndeo," he added parenthetically.

The president was paying attention now. You didn't ignore two purebloods at your gates. "What do they want?" he inquired tightly, obviously not pleased by this turn of events.

Kaito shrugged. "They want to speak with you. They want to be part of the proceedings and present their evidence, and they want to see Kuran. They're a bit... impatient."

Zero had never been a fan of the Sato family in general, but this intervention made up for a lot. He had to fight the smile that tried to tug at his lips. The Satos had very legitimate reason to want to be involved in this matter. Their testimony could not be refused and the hunters could not continue to question Kaname like this in front of other purebloods. Letter of the law or not, it was just a really stupid idea. Besides, by coming here in person Diachi was making clear that he and his family supported Kaname in this affair. Now, any action taken against Kaname had the potential of being perceived as an action taken against the Satos as well.

Zero wasn't sure whether Diachi was doing this because he really did want to support Kaname, or just because he wanted to vigorously _not _support Nasser who had caused him a fair amount of grief. Either way, it was a good turn of events for them.

"Tell them we would be happy to meet with them and hear their account. I'm sure Kuran will be pleased to see them as well," the president said, sounding anything _but_ happy. "Tell them that we would not wish to impose upon them the strictures necessary to enter this facility. We will arrange for a secure meeting place elsewhere. Kuran is still recovering from his ordeal with Ardon but we'll make sure he's transported with the utmost safety."

Reading between the lines, Zero knew the president wanted a chance to get Kaname cleaned up before anyone saw him and didn't want to have three purebloods inside HQ at once. Even Zero had to agree that that wasn't a good idea. The president also obviously wanted to make clear that Kaname's condition was due to the fight with Nasser and not any misconduct on the hunters' part.

Zero was unimpressed with all the political wrangling, but the real upshot of all of this was that he was going to get to take Kaname out of here and he would _not _be bringing him back if he could help it. Supporting evidence from the Satos should effectively clinch and close the case. If enough influential fellow vampires decried one of their own as rouge and dangerous, it was generally accepted as fact. Nasser had tried to use this very mechanism against Kaname but in the end he would be the one that fell victim to it, even if posthumously. There was some poetic justice in that.

Feeling more relieved than he'd like to admit, Zero dispelled the charm on the floor with a flick of his hand and knelt in front of Kaname, quietly un-fastening him from the chair.

The other hunters cast curious glances at Zero. Not because he was releasing Kaname. Because without any apparent effort he'd just revoked a charm that it had taken four other hunters to set. The president's eyes followed him with a interested, almost hungry intensity.

"Sensei and I will handle the transportation," Zero suggested, his tone carefully calm and business-like. "They're used to seeing me with Kuran, it will make things smoother."

No one had any objections to that and Zero straightened up. He resisted the very strong urge to scoop Kaname up and carry him out. He knew the pureblood's pride would suffer, given the situation. Instead he gripped Kaname's arm firmly and helped him to his feet. Kaname held onto him tightly for support, but even so his bearing was still one of dignified poise as he left the room on Zero's arm, trailed by several other guards.

The hunters weren't terribly happy about this turn of events, but they weren't truly that upset either. They seemed prepared to let matters pass on into a wash of necessary formalities and political posturing. They would have preferred to do things their way, but ruffled pride was the only real force behind their aggravation. By this time they all more or less accepted that Nasser had been the disruptive force behind the morning's catastrophe. Most of them suspected that Kaname was not an entirely innocent bystander in the conflict, but they also knew they'd never prove anything. Considering the blatant disregard Nasser had shown towards them, contrasted against Kuran's professed co-existence views, the younger pureblood was, at least for the time being, definitely the lesser of two evils.

The president insisted a doctor check and re-bandage Kaname's wounds before he was released. He was rightly concerned about minimizing the smell of blood present in a meeting of vampires, and Kaname acquiesced for the same reasons.

"Kiriyu?" the president inquired, approaching Zero as he waited outside the exam room. The older man raised an eyebrow, silently asking if the young hunter needed a refresh on his bandages.

Zero shook his head, knowing that no matter how much they re-dressed Kaname's wounds, you couldn't hide the scent of him from other purebloods. That being the case, no one was going to even notice _his_ blood. "I'm fine."

"I see," the president said slowly, giving him an assessing look. "You do seem to have... quite the constitution."

Zero did not look away, holding his gaze steadily. "Yes," was all he said.

"You know, when things calm down we need to run a few tests." The president continued to regard him with intently focused eyes.

Zero shrugged. "I already made an appointment," he jerked his head back towards the exam room.

The president raised both eyebrows, but seemed pleased. His mood lightened just a little and he patted Zero on the shoulder. "Well, let's not worry about it now. You did a good job today. Someone with your gifts could have quite a promising future ahead of you."

Kaname appeared in the doorway, shadowed by Yagari. His wan features tightened when he saw the hunter president discoursing with his lover in hushed, serious tones. "Zero?" he said quietly, fists unconsciously curling at his sides. Yagari placed a surprisingly gentle but warning hand on his shoulder from behind.

Zero turned and flashed him a look. _"Everything's fine. Chill, all right?" _he sent mentally. Verbally he said, "You done? Let's get moving."

* * *

The inquest was relocated to a neutral, secure hunter safe house in the city and the wards were lowered long enough to allow their vampire guests to enter. The whole affair was long and tedious. Although careful not to show it, Kaname was not terribly comfortable being around Diachi and Diantha in his current condition. He was literally trailing blood in a pool of sharks, but there was really no alternative it at this point.

Diachi had the substantial grace to pretend he didn't notice that anything was wrong with the other pureblood. His mother did not make the same effort. She was a much older vampire with a strong air of power. She was genteelly deferential in an old-fashioned way and let Diachi do all the talking despite her seniority. There was something about the way they both carried themselves, however, which let you know that Diachi was in charge because _she _had placed him there. The elder vampire did not much leave the seclusion of her many estates these days and was obviously here simply to lend weight to her son's words. She was quiet and refined in manner, but her eyes followed Kaname like a hungry cat tracking a wounded mouse. It was a normal reaction to Kaname's vulnerable state, but it put Zero sorely on edge and he was immensely glad when the proceedings were finally concluded.

Takuma was waiting for them outside, leaning against a long black limo. Zero guessed he'd been waiting there for hours. Seiren was in the driver's seat and behind the car Zero saw the familiar silhouettes of Kain, Ruka, Shiki and Aido. They stood there as silent as shadows, waiting for Kaname to appear. It was only the 6 of them and they stood in plain view. They were obviously trying to present themselves as non-threatening while at the same time making equally obvious that their intention was to take Kaname home with them and they would not easily countenance any disagreement.

The hunters were tense and unappreciative of their presence.

Smiling brightly in that very non-vampire way of his, Takuma made his way over and bowed respectfully to the three purebloods before shaking the Association president's hand. Senri trailed after him, also bowing, but keeping his hands in his pockets.

"Mr. President, if I might have a few minutes of your time, I would like to speak with you regarding the disposition of this case. The Council is very interested in your findings..." Through a sheen of energetic good will, Takuma was subtly reminding them that he, as a Council representative, had been shut out of the proceedings and it would be prudent to spend a few minutes making nice and giving him something to report in order to avoid causing offense.

Taking advantage of the distraction, for he knew that's exactly what it was, Zero smoothly steered Kaname towards the waiting limo. For a moment, the president looked as if he would like to object. He glared in consternation at Kuran's retreating back, but Takuma was still talking to him and Diachi and Diantha were now being greeted by their own attendants who had come to escort them. At this point, there was no graceful way for him to insist that Kaname return to HQ and he seemed to accept that, turning his attention more fully upon Takuma and assuring him that of course, he would be happy to fill him in on everything.

Zero got in the car with Kaname and closed the door, shutting out the sound of voices and letting quiet descend for the first time in what felt like eons.

Kaname collapsed back against the leather seats, his facade of strength and composure crumbling the instant he no longer needed to maintain it. "Seiren," he said in a voice hoarse from too much use and too much pain. "Take us home."

Kaname fell asleep on Zero's shoulder during the drive and he could not be wakened when they reached the house. Zero himself was bone weary, but he refused Seiren's assistance and carried Kaname into the house himself.

The long day and the even longer night were over. A new dawn was tinting the horizon outside as Zero laid Kaname gently down on his bed. They had been through too much for Zero to feel much of anything now, but a subtle relief was slowly seeping its way into his battered, weary consciousness. The young hunter stretched his aching body out next to his lover. He tilted his head against Kaname's arm, intending to just rest his eyes for a few minutes... and swiftly fell into a deep, exhausted slumber of his own.

* * *

_One week later..._

Zero's eyes fluttered open as he felt warmth settle over his slightly chilled frame. He blinked in the dimness of the room, the fiery hair registering as a blur of color until Kain's face came into focus above him. Zero stirred in the chair, realizing that Kain had just covered him with a blanket. He rubbed his face, trying to clear his head and guess how long he'd been sleeping.

"Didn't mean to wake you; you looked cold," Kain said quietly with an apologetic smile.

Zero shook his head. "No, it's fine. I didn't mean to doze off." His voice was also hushed.

It was as if they were both whispering out of deference to the sleeper on the bed beside Zero's chair, even though it was unnecessary. Kaname had been asleep for almost a week now, lost in deep hibernation ever since they brought him home from the hunter inquisition following Nasser's death.

Zero, knowing very little about vampire hibernation, had amused Seiren by asking if they needed to move Kaname to a coffin or something. She'd told him that as long as they kept him away from sunlight he would be fine resting in a normal bed for now. Since his sleep had been forced upon him by his injuries and was not a choice on his part, she had no way of knowing when he would awaken. If he was still asleep by that time next year, then it would be prudent to move him to the crypt for safekeeping. Seiren had had no idea the effect her words would produce until she'd seen Zero's face. Then, she'd regretted forgetting that he didn't see time the way they did.

Zero's gaze slid to Kaname's still form on the bed. He knew that purebloods could hibernate for centuries if they wanted to... but Kaname wouldn't do that, right? He wouldn't forget that there was someone waiting for him, someone who couldn't sleep away time like he did, right?

Kain followed his gaze, reading the concern in the amethyst eyes easily enough. "He was hurt badly, Zero. He needs this. You know he won't stay down longer than he needs to. He's too stubborn for that," he assured.

Zero nodded. He did know. He just hoped that Kaname had a choice in the matter. As Kain said, he had indeed been hurt badly. "I know," he returned with a self-deprecating little smile. He knew it was only his own selfishness that longed for Kaname to wake up. "I just miss him."

The instant it left his lips, Zero seemed startled that he'd said that aloud to someone else and he frowned, quickly looking away with a small flush of embarrassment.

"Perfectly natural," Kain responded wryly. "I mean, you love him, right?" He settled his hips back against the edge of the dresser across from Zero's chair, half sitting on it. Kaname was sleeping in Zero's room since the pureblood's was still being rebuilt. It was just about finished, but Zero didn't want to move him. There was something comforting about having Kaname near him and sleeping next to him, even if he was unresponsive. Okay, maybe he should consider that a little creepy, but it wasn't as if Kaname were dead, he was just sleeping. Sleeping really, really deeply.

Kain's frank, matter of fact tone made Zero feel less shy, maybe because the taller vampire spoke as one who knew what it was to be in love. "Yeah," the hunter agreed with a shrug. "I guess." He knew that Kain would understand that he meant he guessed it was natural, not that he guessed he was in love. There was no doubt about that part.

Zero rubbed the back of his neck, wishing his head would quit pounding like a jack-hammer stuck in the on position. "How's Aido?"

Concern flickered briefly across the taller vampire's face. "Awake, for the moment. He's a lot more lucid. I think the fever has finally broken."

"Good," Zero was glad to hear that. Aido's health had crashed hard shortly after they brought Kaname home. Whether he had over-exerted himself in the excitement around the showdown with Nasser or whether it was the course his worsening symptoms had been leading to anyway there was no way to know. Whatever reason, the blond had been down with fever, chills and sporadic delirium for days.

Worrying about both Kaname and Aido this past week had not done great things for Zero's stress level. Combine that with some... other things... that had needed to be dealt with in relation to his job and the young hunter felt pretty spent. He had had a lot of reason to appreciate Kain's steady, quiet, helpful and undemanding presence around Night Haven the past few days.

"Ruka and I are getting married." Kain said out of the blue. He spoke in the same, matter-of-fact tone as before, causing Zero, whose mind had momentarily wandered, to have to mentally rewind the words to make sure he'd heard them correctly. The deeply happy glitter in Kain's eyes told him he had.

Zero broke into a smile, trying to shake off his malaise and the lingering, cottony cobwebs in his head so he could focus on the news. "That's great! When?" He did not consider it a very surprising turn of events, but he felt truly happy for them.

Kain shrugged. "Not sure yet. I still have to ask her father and her family will probably want to make a big deal out of the wedding, so it might not take place until next year. But she said yes." That was obviously the most important part to him.

_"Of course she said yes," _Zero couldn't help thinking, but he didn't say it out loud. "You told Aido yet?" he said instead, a wry glint entering his eye.

Kain rolled his eyes. "Yes, just now actually. Which means it's only a matter of time until the entire world knows. One of the reasons I figured I'd better tell you myself," he added. "That and... well..."

Zero raised his eyebrows, sensing there was a request in her somewhere. "And?"

Kain looked a trifle embarrassed. "See, the thing is, we would like you to come and Ruka really wants to invite Kaname, but..."

Zero frowned slightly, trying to suss out the problem and wishing his sluggish brain would be more cooperative. "You think it would feel weird?" He was pretty sure Kaname would be happy for the two nobles and as he saw it, marrying Kain was a pretty big indication on Ruka's part that she was over the pureblood, but Zero supposed it could still feel a little awkward for Kain.

If they didn't invite Kaname they couldn't invite Zero, that would just be rude. To be honest, Zero really didn't care. He was happy for them, but attending or not attending the ceremony was all the same to him. He'd go to support his friends, but it wasn't like attending ostentatious vampire social events was his favorite past time. Still, Kain's unconscious indication that they considered him someone they would want to have there in his own right, and not just as Kaname's plus one tag-along did not go unnoticed.

"No, that's not really the problem," Kain clarified. "I want you both there. But there are... there are traditions, regarding the expected role and privileges of a pureblood who has been invited to a noble's wedding and how he might be expected to bless their marriage. Kaname has already made it clear he does not want to fill those functions, and we're certainly not asking him to. It doesn't _have _to be that way, but if the invitation comes from Ruka's parents, it will seem very formal and traditional and I know he will not accept."

"Damn right he won't," Zero muttered, eyes widening slightly as he understood what Kain was implying.

Kain smiled ruefully. "Exactly. Given their history, Ruka is mortified of the idea that merely asking might cause him to misunderstand. He may not wish to go in any case, yet to not invite him at all would be awfully cold. So we were hoping that perhaps, at some point, you might talk to him about it. If we're asking through you, he'll know it's just an invitation and nothing more."

Zero shook his head with a wry smirk at the ridiculous complexity of vampire social interactions. Then he pinched the brow of his nose against the headache that the motion caused. "Geez, you realize how screwed up this is?" he muttered. "Sure, fine. I'll ask him. _If _he actually wakes up before then."

"Thanks," Kain said, then paused, a faint frown coloring his features as he studied the hunter's slumped form. "So," he said slowly, his gaze holding Zero quietly. "It didn't go so good at the Association?"

Zero's whole body tensed and he looked suddenly wary. "Everything's fine."

Kain looked unimpressed. "Oh, sure, that's why you move like you're in pain, smell like blood and antiseptic and your pupils aren't dilating. You were gone for two days. If Kaname were awake..."

Zero shrugged tensely, not liking the way the conversation was suddenly heading. "Yeah, well, he's not." _Thank God. _ "I do work, you know. Hazard of the job. It's normal."

In the blink of an eye, Kain was by Zero's chair and holding the hunter's right wrist. Zero was unable to react in time to stop him. Kain pushed the hunter's sleeve up his arm exposing a deliberate, evenly spaced lattice of mostly healed cuts that ran the length of his forearm.

"Work? This doesn't look like normal battle damage to me, Zero. And don't tell me you couldn't stop me from doing this just because you're tired. You've been drugged. _Hunter _drugged." Kain knew the signs and he was worried about what it might mean.

The wounds on Zero's arm were all but closed so they weren't bandaged. Zero regretted now that they were so clearly visible, but with Kaname out of it he hadn't expected anyone to call him on the injuries. He scowled at Kain and yanked his arm back, pushing his sleeve down again. "None of your business," he warned.

"You're my friend," Kain said in that stubborn, long suffering tone Zero often heard him use with Aido. "You being tortured by the people you supposedly work for _is _my business. You can bet _he's _going to think it's his, too," Kain nodded towards Kaname's still figure on the bed.

Zero blanched slightly, his gaze turning serious. "Don't tell him. I mean it, Kain. Do _not _tell him about this or I _will _hurt you."

"I'm so scared," Kain retorted dryly, folding his arms.

Zero's glare deepened. "I'm _fine. _They didn't _torture _me. This wasn't about information or anything like that. They're satisfied with the explanation of things as it was given. They just..." he sighed, realizing he was going to have to explain the situation in order to get Kain's cooperation and silence. "They had to run some tests, all right?"

Kain's flat gaze was dark. He obviously didn't think that his friend being dissected like a lab specimen was any better than being tortured. "Tests that involve them cutting into you un-sedated, over and over while they chart how fast you heal, right?" he said quietly. "Tests that involve them intentionally giving you doses of drugs and poisons to see how you react to them, or hitting you with different charms to see which ones do the most damage... those kind of tests?"

Zero's face had gone stony, shutting down when confronted with a much too accurate description of what he'd endured. The hunter scientists had not been intentionally cruel to him. Yagari, stone faced and unhappy had stood by the entire time to make sure of that. Hurting him had not been their goal, it was an unavoidable side-effect. The tests they needed to run were simply agonizing by nature. Because vampire sedatives were essentially poison, the necessarily high levels of sedation that would be required to ease the pain of the procedures would have changed his body's reactions and rendered the tests inaccurate.

To be fair, at least some of the scientists had not been at all comfortable carrying out the procedures on a human subject. A random enemy vampire would have been fine - after all, they weren't _human _were they? Zero was one of their own, however, and that created a huge grey area for some of them. But Zero was also a one of a kind subject, and he had submitted voluntarily.

"Sure," Zero said in a hard, even tone. "Those kind. I've changed. I can do things I shouldn't be able to do. I have power no hunter or ex-human has ever had before. They need to study what's happening with me. I'm okay with that. I volunteered."

Kain was not fooled, although understanding did begin to flicker in his thoughtful gaze. "You volunteered so it wouldn't be compulsory. Because as long as you cooperate willingly, they consider you to still be on their side."

Zero's eyes flashed silently. "I _am _on their side," he said quietly. "I'm a hunter, Kain. I don't agree with everything the Association does. I would have told them to go screw themselves if they had tried to put Kaname down, but they are still my people. What we do is necessary. It saves lives. It keeps the peace and maintains balance. Even if it is damn ugly sometimes."

Zero glanced again towards the bed. Zero knew that Kaname would agree that the necessary choices weren't always pretty ones. He no longer thought all vampires were his enemies, but some of them were. He knew that not all hunters were to be trusted, but some of them were. The world would never be simple and the lines that defined his allegiances and his duties would probably never be as clean and crisp as he'd once thought. Yet, Zero found he was all right with that. Life was complicated, that was just a fact. It was not something to fear. Perhaps he was misguided, but he no longer felt that walking the line between two worlds made him a traitor. He could love Kaname and be loyal to his heritage as a hunter. He could be a vampire and a hunter. It wasn't easy, but hey, easy would be boring, right?

Kain nodded slowly. Interestingly enough, he seemed to understand. Considering Kain had for years followed a man whom he knew held the heart of the woman he himself loved, perhaps he was especially suited to comprehend that not all allegiances were easy to explain.

"Are there going to be more tests?" he asked quietly.

Zero shook his head. "I don't think so. Not for a while, anyway. They've got plenty of data to work with, and they don't want to alienate me... not yet, anyway." He smiled sardonically. "As long as they don't think I'm crazy or a traitor, then I'm more useful to them as a shiny secret weapon. Look, Kain, the point is everything is working itself out. The tests weren't fun, but they're over for now and it was always going to have to happen someday. This wasn't Kaname's fault, but do you think he'll believe me if I tell him that?" Zero shook his head with a consternated look. "No. He'll go all emo guilt on me and want to take it out on the Association. We just got out of one mess, I'd rather not start another. You _do _see what a bad idea that would be, right?"

Kain didn't look happy, but he nodded again. "I do. I won't say anything," he conceded and Zero looked relieved. "Hey, Zero?" he added. "If there are more tests later... if you need someone afterwards, call me." His gaze was earnest. "I won't tell. So call me. I'll be there, anytime. Okay?"

Zero just looked at him for a moment. He knew Kain was completely serious. He realized that somewhere along the line, Kain had adopted him into the small fold of people for whom the tall vampire was ready to take responsibility, the group normally populated only by Aido and Ruka. Kain was treating him like family. It was odd in a way, and yet at the same time it also felt natural. They'd never spent that much time together. Zero was almost always relating to Kain in relationship to his more flamboyant cousin, yet somehow there was this quiet, unassuming connection between them. It was understated and easy going, like Kain himself.

"Thanks," Zero replied, and he meant it. "And hey, congratulations about you and Ruka, okay?" It was a not so subtle change of subject, but Kain accepted it gracefully.

"Thanks," he returned. "Well, I'll get out of here and let you rest." He headed for the door, pausing once before leaving. "You should feed, Zero. I know you don't want to while he's unconscious, but it won't hurt him and _he'd _want you to." Then he was gone.

Zero sat for a few minutes pondering that last bit of advice as he watched Kaname sleep. Aside from the fact that he was still hibernating, there no longer appeared to be anything physically wrong with Kaname. His wounds were gone and his body had returned to its usual perfection. The bandages had all come off several nights ago.

Zero was hungry after his ordeal in the lab and Kain must have sensed that. He was hungry, but he wasn't starving. He could get through all right and it felt wrong to consider taking advantage of the unconscious vampire.

Zero crawled onto the bed with Kaname and nuzzled in against him, wanting to rest. It was nice to just be close to him... but his fangs started throbbing at the nearness. He sighed, realizing he was either going to have to put some distance between them or make a decision, because _this_ wasn't going to be restful.

He started to push himself up to leave, then stopped. He ran a hand through Kaname's hair and caressed slowly down the side of his neck. Despite his slumber, Kaname was once more a reassuringly bright flame in Zero's hunter senses. Zero found that comforting, but it also raised a question for him. Was he really resisting for Kaname's sake, or simply because resisting was a habit for him? How many times had his lover scolded him for not drinking when he needed it? Did he even need to wonder what Kaname would say if he were awake? No. There was no question he had standing permission to take whatever he needed whenever he needed it. That was a precious gift, really, and one freely given - why did he always feel like he should push it away? Kaname was much improved, and even if he may still be healing inside, it couldn't possibly hurt him if Zero only took a very little.

Before he could second guess himself, Zero dipped his head and slipped his fangs carefully into his lover's throat. He drank gently, carefully... perhaps even a little hopefully. There was a part of him that was waiting for Kaname to stir. Waiting for him go tip his head back against the pillow and give one of those soft, delighted, needy little groans that made Zero's blood turn to fire. Waiting for the dark eyes to flutter open and fix on him with a sleepy mix of happy surprise and desire. He had thought perhaps the act of drinking might wake the hibernating vampire, but that did not happen. Kaname did not stir and when Zero slipped his fangs free and licked the small punctures closed, he realized he had traded one kind of agitation for another. At least he knew this one would go away by itself with a little time.

With a resigned sigh, he settled down against his lover, amused and annoyed how much he really wanted Kaname awake and responsive right now.

"This is damn inconvenient, you know that?" he muttered as he closed his eyes and tried to focus on enjoying the effect Kaname's blood was having on his healing body. "Life really needs to stop being crappy soon." He sighed. One thing to be said for speaking to the comatose version of his lover was that he spoke a lot more freely. "I mean, we _won _for goodness sake, but it doesn't really feel like it yet. And don't say it's because I miss you. Even though I do. Even though you're right here..." Zero smiled sardonically into Kaname's shoulder, realizing that the combination of weariness and blood was having an effect on him similar to being tipsy. "God, I'm glad you can't hear me, by the way. So maybe there's an upside here after all. I think I'm more worn out than I thought. Maybe that's what I'm sick of - being tired, being worried... I don't know about you, but I have had it up to here with all this political shit and stress. We need to get away for a while."

Zero sighed again, deciding that the fact that he was laying here talking to himself - or talking to someone who he knew couldn't hear him, which was only marginally better - was probably an indication of just how right he was. The past few weeks, heck, the past few _months _really had just been one thing after another. Just thinking about it made _him _want to sleep for a few decades.

The hunter thought it was going to take him a long time to fall asleep, but he under estimated his own weariness. The velvety curtain of sleep pulled closed across his mind before he'd even gotten halfway through trying to figure out just how far away they'd need to go to try to put the past weeks behind them.

* * *

Kaname continued to sleep, and Zero continued to spend most nights beside him. If this kept up, Zero figured it _would_ begin to get creepy. He told his lover so one night while he was kissing his neck and considering sampling his blood again just to feel close to him, even though he wasn't hungry. The fact that he was considering that told how badly he was missing his lover.

His desperation for Kaname's companionship was almost strange. They were often apart for much longer than this, but somehow having Kaname there and yet not there made it worse. Or maybe it was just because it had followed so abruptly on the heels of everything that had happened to them. There was so much Zero wanted to say to Kaname... yet even if his lover were awake, he wouldn't have known where to start.

Zero sighed against Kaname's skin as he leaned over him, lightly kissing and sucking on the base of his neck. He'd been telling himself he was going to drink again, but he knew he really just wanted to touch the pureblood without feeling weird about it. He drew back in frustration, deciding he'd probably better go take a shower or something. He wondered if being unremittingly horny was a side-effect of his increasing power. Was that why Kaname was always such a twit?

The hunter ran a hand through his silver hair. "You make me feel like a pervert, you know. You should be glad I don't go for the whole sleep-sex thing_.._." he muttered.

Zero was starting to rise when a low chuckle froze him in place and made his heart kick in his chest. He spun back around to find Kaname's dark eyes open and regarding him. The gaze was a little foggy, but it showed definite traces of amusement.

"Not sure if _glad _is really what I feel about it," the pureblood murmured. His voice was low and soft from disuse. Not exactly hoarse, but a more throaty than usual. "Things were just getting interesting."

"Kaname!" Zero was torn between smiling and frowning and ended up doing both in turn. "Hey, how long have you been awake?"

Kaname gave a lazy smile, not even having the decency to rub his eyes or seem disorientated after his long sleep. You would think he'd just woken up from a nap, not a virtual coma. "Long enough to be seriously disappointed by both your lack of depravity and creativity..." he replied with a pretend yawn.

Caught somewhere between wanting to kiss the pureblood and wanting to strangle him, Zero wondered how it was that Kaname could manage to rouse that uniquely familiar sensation in him barely moments after waking.

With a glare that was honestly more amused than upset, Zero dropped back to the bed, grabbing Kaname's wrists and pinning them by his head as he went with his first instinct and leaned down to steal a kiss that was both relieved and slightly possessive.

Straightening up just enough so that their faces were a few inches apart and he could regard the pureblood, Zero held him in a steady gaze.

"Welcome back, I'm glad you're okay," he said quietly, not wanting to let Kaname's method of awakening keep him from acknowledging that. Given the way he was feeling and the way Kaname currently looking up at him, it would be too damn easy to just fall on him like a hungry wolf. He was trying to keep in mind that his lover had just woken up, he really was. It hardly seemed decent to jump him right away. Zero had had many endless days of waiting for this moment, but did Kaname even know where he was?

"We're at home, you've been asleep for almost two weeks," he informed, struggling for normalcy and control. _Good grief, get a grip, Kiryu! _"We've been cleared of all..."

Kaname leaned up and kissed Zero, silencing him unexpectedly. The pureblood's mouth was open and his heat pulled Zero in instantly, melting his bones and dissolving his attempt at control. Zero followed him back down to the bed, intensely exploring the warm, inviting cavern of his mouth as he shifted to straddle him.

"Nice to know," Kaname murmured. "Tell me all about it. Later. Much. Later." Their clothes and the bedspread were still between them, but even through that Zero could tell Kaname was as _interested_ as he was in pursuing something other than talking.

It's was Zero's turn to chuckle. "Really? _Really? _ You nearly die, sleep for weeks, wake up and this is the first thing on your mind?" He wasn't actually complaining. He pushed the covers down, kicking them away. Kaname was wearing some of Zero's silky, cream colored pajamas that were delightfully mussed from their motions so that the pants were riding down his hips and the shirt riding up his stomach. The tantalizing expanse of ivory skin which showed between the fabric was enough to make one's mouth water.

"It's always the first thing on my mind. Why should a little thing like almost dying make a difference?" Kaname retorted, fingers combing through Zero's hair as if he couldn't get enough of touching him. "It really is too bad I was too out of it for us to try having sex while I was in prison... that could have been very interesting."

Zero half choked and the faint color that rose on his cheeks said Kaname still knew how to fluster him, even after all this time. "What, you want me to drag you back there and bang the daylights out of you? Because right now that's sounding pretty attractive," he muttered sarcastically.

Kaname stretched on the bed under Zero in a way that could only be described as sinuous, the motion causing his loose pajama pants scoot down even further, revealing the graceful arch of his hipbones. "Here's fine." The pureblood nipped Zero's ear with sharp teeth.

Zero felt the shudder run through him from head to toe. He slid a hand up under Kaname's pajama shirt. His hand ran up the flat, muscular stomach and came to rest over Kaname's heart. It hesitated there, feeling the organ pulse beneath the smooth, taut, flawless skin. You couldn't tell now that only a little over a week ago the pureblood's chest had been a torn, gruesome mess that made even Zero flinch. It had healed completely, but the memory was not so easily removed from the hunter's mind and it broke through the mood a little.

"You're sure you're okay, right?" Zero couldn't help asking, brows drawing together in a concerned look. He was abruptly concerned that he wasn't being fair or considerate. He'd been waiting for weeks, but the last thing Kaname probably remembered was riding home after having been through hell. Was the pureblood really ready for this? Especially after their little throw down with Nasser and all the issues that bastard had caused?

Kaname smiled wryly as he grabbed the hem of Zero's shirt and tugged it impatiently off over his head. "Depends on your definition," he admitted. "My body is whole, but I've been asleep for some time and healing comes at a cost... I'm hungry, Zero," he murmured huskily. "I'm very hungry." It was only now that Zero realized Kaname's fangs had extended sometime while they were kissing. The pureblood's aura was both predatory and sultry, although it was also laced with a certain amount of hesitancy. "I need you," he groaned with more than a fair amount of double-meaning.

The faint lisp that Kaname's fangs added to his speech could do incredibly queer things to Zero's stomach. The ex-human felt another spike of heat go straight through him under that look and those words. It wasn't surprising that Kaname needed to feed after his recovery and that also explained a little of why he was ready to go from comatose to passionate so quickly. He needed blood and this was how he was conditioned to get it. Zero was reminded of their conversation before the press conference, before all hell broke loose. It seemed a lot longer ago than it actually was and he wondered if Kaname even remembered what he'd told him.

Kaname had already divested him of his shirt. Zero ran his hand along his neck, pushing back his short hair and tipping his head sideways in invitation. His silver earrings jangled, glinting dully in the dim light. "Then take whatever you need. It's yours. You don't have to do anything or give me anything for it, you know that, right? It's always yours."

How someone's expression could be at the same time tender and predatory was difficult to explain, yet those were exactly the seemingly incompatible emotions which Kaname's features displayed. Zero's earnest meaning was not lost on him and he treasured it even as his fangs grew a little longer, aching fiercely. Strong, graceful fingers traced the hunter's neck with just a tremble of need in the touch. "So precious," he murmured hoarsely. Eloquent as he was, Kaname was still not able to put into words how absolutely priceless was the gift that Zero gave him, but Zero saw it in the glitter of the pureblood's dark eyes, and he understood.

Pushing up on his elbows, Kaname kissed Zero's neck slowly and the hunter could feel the rush of the pureblood's breath, coming quick and fast. "I do know that, and I treasure it. But blood isn't the only thing I'm _hungry _for right now..." Kaname tugged Zero's hips down sharply against his own as his fangs penetrated the hunter.

Zero felt the heavy knot fisting in his groin coil tighter, his body almost trembling in bliss as Kaname took his neck and pulled him close. "Good," he groaned hoarsely.

It was about damn time life stopped sucking... even if, ironically, _sucking _was very much on his mind right now.

Kaname's fangs worked in his neck, the suction of his hot mouth and the sensation of the blood draw making heat thrum through Zero's body all the way down to his toes. Kaname was drawing pretty hard. He drank much more ravenously than usual, which confirmed Zero's notion that despite how well and normal he looked, the pureblood hadn't fully recovered yet.

Kaname half-rose off the bed, his arms locked around Zero's shoulders, holding onto him tightly. There was passion and need in his grip for sure, but it was also an unconsciously restraining motion. The instinct of a predator to make sure his prey did not escape. With anyone else, it would have been frightening. Zero could not have gotten his neck free had he wanted to. He _didn't_ want to, however, and he wasn't afraid, not even a little. If it were possible, Kaname's hunger and possession simply made him want the pureblood even more.

Zero hooked his thumbs in the loose waistband of Kaname's pajama pants and pushed them down his hips. Kaname's attention was focused on his neck, but he automatically lifted his hips off the bed to help in the endeavor. The elastic waistband caught on Kaname's erect flesh and Zero carefully pulled it up and over, pushing it down his lover's thighs. He took the pureblood's taught flesh in one hand and stroked it slowly. His other hand was on the bed by Kaname's side, supporting himself and his lover as well.

Kaname's whole body shuddered underneath him as he caressed the pureblood's hard, weeping manhood. The dark haired vampire growled against his throat, the sound rumbling deliciously through Zero's entire being. Kaname sank his fangs deeper, craving more of Zero, more of the incredible delight he was being given. Then the little alarm that always sounded in his head when his instincts started to get the better of him went off and his mind struggled to step outside the heat of the moment and make sure he wasn't doing anything he was going to regret afterwards. That was when he realized with dismay how hard he'd been draining Zero.

With extreme effort, Kaname slid his fangs free and licked Zero's neck gently. His body trembled again, this time with the strain of forcing it to do something it did not wish to do as the pureblood released his lover's shoulders and dropped back to the bed, breathing hard.

Zero gazed down at Kaname. The pureblood's pale cheeks were flushed and between the long dark lashes his half-lidded eyes glowed crimson. Kaname's chest heaved softly as he struggled to remain still, fighting every instinct he had because that what was in his arms was much too precious to him. "Sorry..." he murmured hoarsely, pressing his eyes shut but unable to will his fangs to retract. "I'm sorry."

Zero bent down and kissed Kaname's nose with a soft smile. He didn't need to ask what was going through the pureblood's head, they had been connected through the blood sharing and he knew. Kaname's first instinct was always to protect him. In the past, Kaname would have been right to withdraw. Zero's formerly human body had limits that needed to be considered. But Zero was not so fragile as he used to be. He was changing and whatever else he may feel about that, he realized now that there was one side effect that made him particularly happy.

"You should be sorry," Zero replied in mock testiness. There was a twinkle in his lavender eyes. He leaned down and rubbed the punctured, blood damp side of his neck against Kaname's mouth, making the pureblood's whole body stiffen. The hunter lifted his head enough so that he could gaze down directly into Kaname's eyes, which had opened again and were still red. Zero gazed tenderly into the glowing, agonized depths, seeing there all the love that made Kaname fight so hard for him and returning it fully. "Don't be a tease, Kaname. Take more. I want you," he murmured huskily. "I want you to bite me."

Kaname blinked up at him in surprise, his brows furrowing slightly. His chest burned with his thirst and his desire to do exactly what Zero was inviting him to do. It meant a lot to him that Zero was offering, that Zero accepted and wanted this side of him so fully. The surprise he felt, however, was because he realized Zero wasn't being foolish in his offer. His senses told him his lover was strong and steady, not dizzy and faint as he should have been after how deeply Kaname had been drawing from him.

Zero read the reaction in Kaname's face and his grin deepened. It had kind of surprised him too to realize that he was keeping pace with Kaname better than usual. That his body was dealing with the rapid loss of blood so efficiently that it wasn't making him feel ill and was in fact turning him on more than ever. He knew he would never be even close to a match for Kaname in physical strength and endurance, but he was much stronger than he used to be. Stronger was good. Stronger meant he could give Kaname more of what he deserved, more of what he wanted so much to give him.

"I won't break," he murmured against Kaname's lips, kissing him slowly. "I'm not as weak as I used to be. Please, Kaname, I want this. I want this so much."

"You have never been weak," Kaname returned, his lips curling into a smile as he kissed Zero back. "I love you."

Zero turned his head, and Kaname bit him again, gently, but deeply. Zero groaned and started stroking Kaname once more with eager, fevered fingers. His heart pounded in his chest, his were nerves pleasantly ablaze as Kaname's lips, tongue and fangs pleasured his neck in a manner that had to him become as extremely delightful as if it that hot, skillful mouth were working somewhere much lower on his body. The more of his blood Kaname took, the more deeply connected they felt, a true joining of souls that added to the pleasure. It wasn't just for Kaname's sake that he wanted this. It felt amazing.

Cradling the back of Kaname's head to keep from breaking their connection, Zero rolled them over so that he was lying on the bed and Kaname was over him. It was easier in this position, he could enjoy the sensation better and let Kaname take more freely if he didn't have to support them both. The sturdy, exciting weight of Kaname's body settling over him and the possessive way the pureblood immediately pinned him to the bed didn't hurt either.

Half humming, half groaning in delight and desire against the hunter's neck, Kaname's long fingers returned the favor Zero had done him earlier, pushing Zero's pants down his hips and baring his flesh for exploration. A mental tug had Zero's pants all the way off a few moments later, enabling Kaname to settle his own partially naked frame comfortably between Zero's thighs as his skilled fingers teased and mapped his lover's pale skin.

Zero humped up against his lover, lifting his hips off the bed in search of friction. Their hard, naked lengths slid and pressing together between their bodies, making him fairly groan in pleasure. He wrapped his arms around Kaname's back, pulling up the pureblood's pajama shirt so he could get to the warm skin underneath. Frustrated by not being able to touch all of it, he tugged at the fabric with a little grunt. He felt inclined to just tear it off, but they were _his _pajamas that the pureblood was wearing, which wouldn't have mattered so much except that it was a pair Kaname had given him and he was rather fond of them. "Lose the shirt," he growled instead. "And don't rip it or I'll kick your butt."

Grinning devilishly, his lips alluringly painted with Zero's blood, Kaname straightened up. Still kneeling between Zero's legs, he unbuttoned and removed the shirt with painfully slow, deliberate movements, revealing his naked chest beneath in a tantalizing way that left Zero panting for breath as he stared up at his lover with hungry eyes. The pajama pants were still bunched around Kaname's knees and he removed them the rest of the way as well. Kneeling naked over his lover, he considered him for a moment. He ran one hand slowly down Zero's chest, following the line of his breastbone down to his navel and beneath, rubbing the tip of one finger teasingly across the swollen head of his desire and then bringing it to his lips to taste the moisture he had gathered.

The pureblood gave a low growl in his throat and licked his bloodstained lips. "Delicious," he murmured. The healing puncture marks on Zero's neck flamed with desire as his gaze traced the motion of Kaname's tongue across his lips, his flesh quivering under the pureblood's too-light touch.

"Damn it, shut up and take me before I shoot you," Zero half protested, half demanded.

Kaname's eyes danced with delight as he complied. In a moment he was on top of Zero again, their naked bodies pressed full together, the heat between them tense and delightful as his fangs found a new place to penetrate Zero's neck, making the hunter's back arch against the bed and a small cry of ecstasy escape his lips.

Zero moaned, half mad with need as his and Kaname's erections jousted and dueled exotically with one another again between their flat, hard stomachs. This was great, but they really needed to get serious soon before he lost his mind. As if reading his mind, or at least feeling the same way, Kaname settled his body a little lower, his hardness gliding meaningfully up against his lover's backside.

"So... when you said _take you..._" Kaname murmured devilishly against his throat. He didn't really form the next words, but in the shared connection between them Zero got the very clear impression of how much Kaname would like to bury himself completely in his lover, both his fangs and his flesh, and ride him until the hunter was blind with ecstasy.

Zero's gut flip flopped sharply under the mental impression Kaname had shared with him and his breathing shuddered as the pureblood moved against him, his manhood stroking between Zero's cheeks in a teasing pantomime of a more intimate act. Lifting his head, Kaname kissed Zero slowly, sharing the taste of his blood between them. It felt like it had been a while since Kaname had been mentally ready to be dominant with him and although he was not about to admit it - not in a million years - he realized he rather liked the strong, demanding, arrogant twit side of his lover and would have missed it if it remained missing too long.

But deep wounds take a long time to fully heal. Zero saw the moment when some shadow from the past intruded on Kaname's desire for him. He saw the flicker of uncertainty and self-loathing that made Kaname hesitate, suddenly unsure if was all right for him to want these things, unsure if he was worthy to claim the very willing body beneath him without somehow tainting him.

Much as he might wish otherwise, Zero realized that this was going to be a fact for a while. He couldn't expect Kaname to just completely shrug off the abuse he had suffered simply because Nasser was dead. If he seemed to, it would only be because the pureblood was hiding it from him and Zero didn't want him to do that. He didn't want Kaname to bury any more hurt. Healing took time, and Zero wanted to be part of that every step of the way.

"Gee, I don't know, what do you _think _I meant?" he responded sarcastically to Kaname's earlier question with a deep, throaty grumble in his voice. His eyes acknowledged that he'd seen Kaname's hesitation, but that it didn't bother him. There was not a whiff of truth to the unspoken fears. He loved Kaname and nothing could change what he felt or what he wanted. "I guess maybe you lose brain cells when you hibernate too long. After all, I don't _usually_ have to spell it out for you..."

Kaname chuckled, the hesitation receding from his gaze as Zero pulled him back into the safe, blissful reality of their love for one another like the steadiest of anchors. "Mmm, maybe it did at that. Why don't you spell it out for me, Zero? Make sure I don't misunderstand..." he murmured, a devious and wonderfully familiar smile dancing at the corners of his lips. He cupped Zero's face in one hand, stroking his cheek with his thumb.

"Idiot." Zero scowled at him, or tried to, it was hard when he felt so damn happy. The warm, teasing smugness in Kaname's voice suggested that he just wanted to make Zero talk dirty to him, but Zero decided to play along anyway. It wouldn't hurt to make sure Kaname knew he wanted everything they were doing. Besides, he was aware Kaname thought him somewhat shy or prudish at times, an assumption which he had to admit was not without basis. Every now and again he liked to surprise his lover and be a little bolder than Kaname expected him to be. He liked the reactions it got him.

"Okay..." Zero returned playfully. A wicked grin slid across his face, making his strong, handsome features devastatingly seductive as he turned his head and caught two of the fingers stroking his face in his mouth. He licked and sucked the digits in a slow, suggestive, languorous fashion that made Kaname's gut curl and roil. The pureblood felt like he'd forgotten how to breath by the time Zero pulled his mouth away with a soft, wetpopping sound and gave him a purely devilish look of desire.

"First, I want you to put those to good use," the hunter murmured, looking at Kaname with mock-seriousness as if addressing someone with severely limited mental capacity. "Then I want you inside me - your fangs, your cock everything you have to give me. I want to be yours. I want to feel you in my blood. Think you can manage that?"

Kaname shuddered, his body twitching against Zero and his eyes darkening in a manner that suggested the hunter had quite fully succeeded in making the pureblood able to think about nothing but him and this moment and their shared desire.

"_Everything, _Zero? Oh yes, I think I can manage that." The pureblood slid his newly moistened fingers down between their bodies with deliberate slowness. The tips of two long digits pressed against Zero's opening and started working slowly but firmly against him, gently demanding that he take both at once.

Zero gasped and gripped Kaname's shoulders hard, his body burning with the need to feel those fingers deeper and to pull Kaname into his very soul.

Kaname chuckled, his eyes glittering, his arousal clear in his dark, silky voice. "I can't believe you said the word _cock_," he murmured, deeply amused.

Zero proved that no matter how bold he tried to be he was still the more easily flustered of the two by blushing attractively. The attractiveness was enhanced by the way his flushed lips parted in a silent moan as Kaname's fingers breached him deeper. "Oh, go to hell," Zero muttered.

Kaname laughed, kissing him intensely as he worked both his fingers as deep as they could go inside Zero's body, twisting and curling them against his well-memorized pleasure spots in a way that made Zero squirm and writhe deliciously on the sheets under him. Kaname added the third and fourth finger together, making Zero stretch for him. If the progression was more rapid than usual, it was certainly no more rapid than both of them wanted.

"Do you want me to go get something, or do you want to make me wet?" Kaname murmured breathlessly, his flesh feeling very hot, heavy and ready where it rested against Zero's thigh. He wanted so much to be inside the boy that it was making it hard for him to think, so he gave his lover the choice of how to proceed. They weren't in his bedroom and at this moment he couldn't remember where Zero kept his lube. He was going to need Zero to tell him where to find it if he wanted to use it.

Zero opted for the second choice, his eyes smoldering with desire. "Let me," he murmured, tugging at Kaname to indicate where he wanted him. Kaname obediently slid up Zero's body, kneeling over the hunter's chest but supporting his own weight. Zero slid his hands up the inside of Kaname's thighs and tipped his head up off the pillow, taking Kaname in his mouth. Kaname hissed in pleasure and gripped the headboard, leaning his head against hit and angling his body over Zero as his lover took him completely into his wet warmth.

Zero sucked and lathed his lover's length thoroughly with his tongue, making sure to get it good and wet. Knowing where it was going next made his stomach delectably tight and his groin heavy. The way Kaname was holding onto the headboard over him and moaning didn't hurt either. Seeing Kaname in the throes of pleasure could undo him like nothing else and Zero found himself riding perilously close to the edge. He could feel heat building up in his groin and knew he couldn't wait anymore. He was going to pop if Kaname just _touched _him at this point. He released Kaname's wet flesh reluctantly, his breath heaving in his chest.

"Better do it now, Kaname, I don't think I've got much longer," he murmured, his voice breathless and rueful.

Kaname pushed away from the headboard, looking down at him with molten eyes that nearly had the power to push Zero over the edge just with their intense gaze. The pureblood slid down his body and settled between Zero's legs again. He reached for his lover's throbbing, weeping length but Zero reached down to stop him. "Don't," he murmured hoarsely. "I'm serious. I'm almost there and I want you inside me first."

Kaname's smile was both deeply aroused and deeply tender. "I can help. Do you want me to?" He could suppress or incite Zero's release through their connection, but right now he wasn't going to tamper unless his lover invited him to do so.

Zero nodded his head against the pillow wordlessly. He was wonderfully aroused and he wanted it to last, wanted to retain this delirious edge a little longer. He knew from experience that Kaname could indeed do that for him and his heart pounded faster.

Kaname gripped Zero's knees and spread them, his grip firm but tender. Lifting Zero's hips a little, he pushed forward, his hard, wet length seeking and finding the hunter's tight, hot entry and bidding it stretch further yet to accommodate him.

Zero's head arched on the pillow, one hand going up over his head to grip the headboard just so he had something to hang onto as the intense sensation of Kaname's body merging with his sent fire shooting through his nerves. He was glad Kaname was doing whatever magic it was he did with his body or else he probably would have come the moment the pureblood's thick, blunt, throbbing heat nudged into him, and that would have been kind of embarrassing. As it was his pleasure simply continued to heighten, spiraling out of the normal spheres of bliss as Kaname held his knees and slowly thrust forward little at a time until he was completely buried within his lover's panting, shuddering body.

Kaname pulled out once and thrust back in again, the motion slow but smooth and continuous. Zero gripped the headboard tighter, his other hand fisting in the sheets. Kaname was still holding his knees and focusing on the coupling, so all the sensation in his body was currently coming from the pureblood's flesh moving within him, but that was more than enough to make him dizzy with arousal. Kaname thrust out and in several more times. He desperately wanted more, but saliva wasn't always as good as lube at reducing friction and he worked Zero carefully until he was sure the movement was slick, unencumbered and unlikely to cause his lover any harm.

As the motion became easier, it became faster, Kaname beginning to put a little more of his considerable strength into the motions which enabled him to go deeper and touch those places where Zero _really _liked to be touched.

Zero jerked softly, his thighs trembling in Kaname's grasp and a soft grunt escaping him when Kaname hit especially sensitive tangle of nerves deep inside him, the one that sent white hot flames searing through his stomach and shivers trembling down his legs to his toes.

He didn't need to ask Kaname to do that again, Kaname knew his body well and he knew what Zero liked. The pureblood knew all the right angles to push from, he knew just when to press and when to pull back to make Zero writhe and groan. He knew when to seesaw rapidly, when to press in and hold and when to slam suddenly forward to make lights explode in Zero's vision and make him cry out.

Kaname played Zero's body like a well loved instrument, coaxing forth a melody of sheer mutual bliss. The fever heat of being inside his lover, of feeling the tight friction of his body and watching Zero's pleasure flushed face tossing on the pillow was a special kind of heaven, one of which Kaname would never tire. Kaname shifted, leaning forward on his hands over Zero's body and finding a new angle for his pumping hips to exploit.

Zero's hands left the headboard and sheets and curled instead around Kaname's arms, holding onto him as their perspiration slicked bodies arched and thrust together.

"I love you, Zero," Kaname murmured hoarsely against his lover's skin as his mouth slid back towards the hunter's throat, causing Zero's already pleasure-saturated body to thrill even harder. "You are my everything." Kaname's fangs closed down on his neck again and now he truly was penetrating and claiming Zero in every possible way. Zero belonged to him. Zero _wanted _to belong to him, and that was so incredibly precious.

"You too," Zero managed to breathe in response around the rapid heaving of his lungs and the incredible thundering of his blood in his ears. He cried out when Kaname's fangs found him and the sensation of the dual penetration would have pushed him right over the edge if Kaname wasn't still keeping a gentle handle on his body. Instead, the careful application of control let Zero surge up to swim in a sea of continuous pleasure. It was like taking the moment of orgasm and extending it out and out and out for minutes at a time as Kaname's hips thrust into him and his fangs drew twin rivers of fiery pleasure from his neck. It was an intense and desperate sensation, but it was not painful. It was a beautiful desperation. Zero wished he could do this too, could give this amazing sensation to Kaname. Connected by blood and their bond, wishing was all it took and he realized that he was. At least part of the pleasure he was feeling was coming from Kaname and Kaname was in turn feeling his. There was something lovely about that.

Kaname floated on the sea of pleasure more naturally than Zero, and yet with no less delight as they slipped and slid together in their passionate, intimate dance. He continued to drink from Zero as they made love. His love making was swift and passionate now, but he kept his drinking slower. He experimented carefully, finding the right pace that allowed Zero's body to keep up with the extra demand being placed upon it. It was amazing that it was possible, that it could ever be possible for Zero to sustain this kind of prolonged sampling without taking harm or without it kicking off his own blood lust, but Kaname could tell that pleasure was the only sensation his lover was experiencing.

The ramifications of this shift in Zero's physical state went far beyond just the pleasure they were sharing now and it filled Kaname's wounded heart with a tentative sense of hope and relief. Since the moment he realized he was truly in love with Zero, Kaname had been aware of how painfully brief their time together would be - at least from the perspective of his kind. It was like falling in love with someone who had a terminal illness. He did not regret it, he would enjoy every single precious moment they had together, but in the back of his mind, there was the knowledge that the passage of time did not favor them. He had not been Zero's maker, and alone he could never stabilize him truly. He could keep Zero alive and sane with his blood but there was no real way to know for how long that would last. Over the past few years, Zero had grown stronger in some unexpected and incredible ways which gave Kaname hope that they would have much longer than he originally anticipated. And now...

The thought fluttered through Kaname's mind that as much as he hated Nasser and as much pain as that man had brought into his life, one good thing had come out of this whole mess. Zero had taken life and strength from him. Nasser had been unimaginably old and powerful. The fact that Zero had taken his death blood could very well have added centuries onto the ex-human's life in the long run, provided Zero continued to have access to Kaname's blood as well, which he always would. It was satisfyingly ironic that Nasser, who had sought to strip him of everything he cared about, had ended up being the instrument of very possibly giving him more time to share with his beloved.

Kaname definitely didn't want to think about Nasser right now and his mind quickly shied away from there, but the hope and the happiness that Zero's strength and their expanded future brought to him remained and it was perhaps the second best tonic for the pain and hurt he was still dealing with in the aftermath of all that had happened. The first best tonic... well, that was currently in his arms and was groaning in a most delightful manner that quickly and happily consumed all of Kaname's attention.

Kaname could tell Zero needed to find true release soon, he was groaning with almost every thrust and the hunter's hips worked feverishly up against him, his throbbing length digging urgently into Kaname's stomach. Kaname was of the same mind, the heat coiling within him tense and ready to explode. He released his control on Zero and the hunter came immediately.

Zero's body shuddered with the intensity of it and he cried out, burying his face against Kaname's shoulder and thrusting his trembling manhood hard into the warm flesh of Kaname's abdomen which was quickly becoming slick with the evidence of his pleasure.

Zero's pleasure tripped Kaname over the edge as well, as it usually did. His fangs sunk in deeper, his own cry muffled in his throat by the contact as his hips jerked. He released, filling the hunter with his seed, digging his burning flesh in as far as it could go as he pumped it deeply inside him.

Zero keened, squirming on the bed and continuing to thrust against Kaname's now wet and slippery stomach as the prolonged waves of pleasure swept over him before his body finally went slack. He rested on the bed, panting, Kaname's comforting weight and warmth above him. The pureblood was still inside him, but he slid his fangs free and liked the wounds shut, his slow contented movements suggesting he felt as pleasantly exhausted as Zero did.

"Yeah, it's definitely better with you awake," he managed hoarsely after a minute or two and Kaname chuckled, the sound rumbling against Zero's chest in a way that made him feel very content. He wrapped his arms around Kaname's back and stroked his hair, just savoring the moment.

Zero could feel the wetness between his legs and between their stomachs that told him they both needed a shower, but he was in no hurry to move. He could stay like this with Kaname forever. There was much they needed to discuss, much that still needed to be dealt with, but not right now. There would be time enough for everything else later. Right now he just wanted to live in this moment and finally enjoy the fact that they had survived and that he still had the man he loved most in the world here with him.

He had missed Kaname so much over the past couple weeks, this had been a much needed indulgence. He felt incredibly good, as if he had finally been able to work off some of the tension he hadn't realized had been building up during his lover's slumber. He wasn't even aching or anything and Kaname's girth inside him was still firm, still sending tempting little shivers through his cooling body. Hell, he wouldn't mind doing it again...

"You know..." the warm, rather delighted amusement in Kaname's voice made Zero open his eyes and look up at him. "There are some side-effects when I've had a lot of your blood all at once like this..." the pureblood's smile widened as he moved gently inside Zero, making the hunter exhale shakily and grip his shoulders. "...I know what you're thinking."

Zero chuckled and pretended to cuff him. Kaname smirked back. "Who's being insatiable now, hm?"

"Shut up," Zero grumbled without ire and pulled Kaname down into a kiss.


End file.
